Rapid Citians rally against Trump’s embrace of Musk and actions they say are unmandated and unconstitutional
I was at an anti-Trump/Musk rally on the grounds of SD Sen. Mike Rounds’ office in downtown Rapid City yesterday. The event coincided with similar demonstrations around the country. A group numbering about 50 gathered to make it clear that some people (me included) are plenty mad about the way Trump has grabbed power, saying that he has violated the constitutionally mandated separation of power between branches.
One attendee told me that the crowd’s concerns are twofold. First is that separation of powers issue. Second are the specific actions taken by Trump’s “special government employee” Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Protesters believe that neither Musk nor DOGE have the authority to shut down or interfere with the work of agencies that are set up and funded by Congress.
Besides the streetside demonstrators pictured above (photo: John Tsitrian), there was a crowd of people squeezed into the foyer of Sen. Rounds’ office in the building just to the right. The place was jam-packed. The staffer who came out to make contact with the crowd didn’t take notes as various individuals aired their concerns and outright gripes about the way the Trump administration has charged into power.
The Trump administration and DOGE are facing a list of lawsuits aimed at what many (me included) consider an unprecedented effort at exerting executive power.
The courts, as they did last week when they put on hold Trump’s federal funding freeze and his attempt to quash birthright citizenship, will slow him down. As a practical matter, that’s probably the only way to put the brakes on the administration’s cannonball express-like style of governing.
Yesterday’s demonstrators in Rapid City and the rest of the country are probably an effective adjunct, though, and might stir up enough support among people to get Trump to pay attention to the popular will.
That’s the theory, anyway. Here’s hoping it works.
John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Republish with permission.
