The protests began on the evening of July 16 , 2018 , the day Trump returned from his controversial summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki , Finland . The first protest was informally organized by Philippe Reines , a political consultant and former spokesman for Hillary Clinton . Other activists took over from there , including Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko , who said the protests were a response to " Donald Trump 's total capitulation to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki Summit . " The protests continued every night for four months , then switched to three nights a week
summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin
2018 Russia–United States summit
Kremlin Annex