The People’s March was held in January of 2025 two days before the second inauguration of President Donald Trump. The march was organized by Women’s March, which had seen high turnout for a similar demonstration in Washington, D.C. before President Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. However, in contrast to hundreds of thousands of marchers, the estimates before the march amounted to at most 50,000 people. The march took on a tone of defiance against the incoming Trump administration and strove to promote a variety of left-of-center issues, such as environmentalism, abortion access, and the supposed danger that Republicans pose to American democracy. ^{1 2}

Founding and History

The People’s March was a demonstration organized to protest the second inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2025. The march was organized by the Women’s March group, which had previously organized a very large protest of hundreds of thousands of people in the wake of President Trump’s first inauguration. However, the popularity of and support for the group declined in the intervening years; attendance at the People’s March event was expected beforehand to be around 50,000 people. ^{3 4}

The People’s March was noted for being a much smaller affair than in 2017, and in several reports characterized its relatively small size as a manifestation of the changing mood, sometimes verging on outright despair and defeatism, on the political left after Trump’s second election in 2024. Several people who were prominently involved in the original 2017 march had either been pushed out of the organization when it succumbed to infighting or had ceased involvement in it. ^{5 6}

Financials

Women’s March does not appear to have filed a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) since 2021. Its specific finances are not available in general, or for the People’s March in particular. The group’s latest annual report, from 2023, did not include any financial information. ^{7 8}

However, the People’s March website did list a large number of donors to the 2025 event. These groups included Abortion Access Now, the Reproductive Freedom for All Foundation, Popular Democracy in Action, the National Organization for Women, Time to Act, Ben and Jerry’s, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, and the Frontline, in addition to a number of other activist groups. ⁴

Views

Women’s March, the People’s March’s parent group, characterizes itself as a feminist movement. It is especially concerned with abortion access. The People’s March was designed to appeal to a wider variety of left-wing groups and issue advocates with its name change. A highlight reel of the People’s March seems to indicate support for a broad swath of left-of-center issue areas, including environmentalism, gender transition, abortion access, and characterizing the political right as fascist. ⁴

Leadership

As of 2025, Tamika Middleton was the managing director of Women’s March, a post she had held since 2021. She characterizes herself as being part of the “southern Black radical tradition.” In comments to the press before the People’s March, Middleton lowered expectations for the event, stating that organizers did not expect to reach numbers similar to the original 2017 march and that she was seeking to establish the movement as an inclusive home for those wishing to resist the incoming Trump administration. ²

1. ^[1] “People’s March.” People’s March. Accessed July 14, 2025. https://www.peoplesmarch.com. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20250725143531/https://www.peoplesmarch.com/.
2. Hagenah, Iliana. “The Women’s March Faced Controversy and Division. Will a Rebrand Be Enough?” Al Jazeera, January 18, 2025. Accessed July 14, 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/1/18/the-womens-march-faced-controversy-and-division-will-a-rebrand-be-enough.
3. “A Rebranded Women’s March Returns before Trump’s Inauguration as Progressives Seek to Regroup.” NBC4 Washington, January 17, 2025. Accessed July 14, 2025. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/rebranded-womens-march-trump-inauguration/3817718/.
4. “People’s March.” People’s March. Accessed July 14, 2025. https://www.peoplesmarch.com.
5. ^[1] Hagenah, Iliana. “The Women’s March Faced Controversy and Division. Will a Rebrand Be Enough?” Al Jazeera, January 18, 2025. Accessed July 14, 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/1/18/the-womens-march-faced-controversy-and-division-will-a-rebrand-be-enough.
6. “A Rebranded Women’s March Returns before Trump’s Inauguration as Progressives Seek to Regroup.” NBC4 Washington, January 17, 2025. Accessed July 14, 2025.https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/rebranded-womens-march-trump-inauguration/3817718/
7. Women’s March. Return for an Organization Exempt from Taxation (Form 990). 2021.
8. “Annual Reports.” Accessed July 14, 2025. https://www.womensmarch.com/annual-report.