In the hours leading up to the president’s Tuesday night address to a joint session of congress, protesters were once again on Tampa streets to call for change and to hold signs calling Donald Trump “Putin’s Bitch.”

While the usual message of discontent with the new administration’s sweeping changes was on full display, yesterday’s demonstration also included louder support for Ukraine, a country now entering the fourth year of its war with Russia which invaded in February 2022.

One sign even painted “Donald Krasnov” as a Russian asset. Because, clout, the protest also attracted a handful of pro-Trump counter protestors, GoPros in hand.

Protestors outside Tampa City Hall in Tampa, Florida on March 4, 2025. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker
Protestors outside Tampa City Hall in Tampa, Florida on March 5, 2025. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...