Trump dines with top brass to flaunt DC safety after crime crackdown: 'You won’t be mugged going home'
WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump stepped out for a night on the town in Washington, DC, and made sure everyone knew why.
On Tuesday, September 9, the president dined with his top brass at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, an upscale spot just a block from the White House, while boasting about what he called the “spectacular” results of his tough-on-crime crackdown in the capital.
It was the first time Trump had been spotted at a DC restaurant since the start of his second term.
Trump touts crime crackdown as DC becomes 'one of the safest cities'
“We’re standing right in the middle of DC, which, as you know, over the last year was a very unsafe place, over the last 20 years it was very unsafe, and now it’s got virtually no crime,” Trump declared to reporters outside Joe’s.
“I wouldn’t have done this three months ago, four months ago, I certainly wouldn’t have done it a year ago,” he added. “This was one of the most unsafe cities in the country. Now, it’s as safe as there is in the country.”
Trump urged locals to enjoy their newly safer city as he arrived with Vice President JD Vance, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“We have a safe city, so that’s good. Enjoy yourself. You won’t be mugged going home,” he told diners.
“The restaurants now are booming. People are going out to dinner where they didn’t go out for years,” he said, thanking the National Guard and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser for backing his safety push. “The outcome is really spectacular,” Trump beamed. “We have a capital that’s very, very safe.”
Protesters interrupt Trump’s DC dinner appearance
Of course, not everyone was applauding. Outside the restaurant, the president was met with loud cheers from across the street.
Inside, however, a handful of protesters tried to disrupt Trump’s entrance. “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!” they shouted while waving small Palestinian flags.
The women were quickly escorted out by law enforcement.
Trump teases next city to get safety overhaul
The outing came after Trump was pressed in the Oval Office last week over why he hadn’t been dining out in DC. “Do you want me to prove you wrong?” Trump shot back at the reporter.
“I think it’s something we could consider doing. Love to do it,” he added. “I love the White House food, but after a while, I could see going to a nice restaurant. It’s safe.”
Before slipping into Joe’s, Trump also teased that another city is about to get the DC treatment.
“We’re going to, very shortly, be working it out with the governor of a certain state, who would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state, who would love us to be there,” he said. “We’ll announce it probably tomorrow, and it’s going to be something we will do like we did here.”
Democrats push back as Trump threatens to send troops into US cities
Trump has floated the idea of sending troops to crime-plagued cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans. But not everyone is rolling out the red carpet.
“Militarizing the streets of New Orleans is not the solution for our public safety. Period,” Democratic Rep Troy Carter snapped in a letter to Trump.
In Baltimore, Mayor Brandon Scott isn’t taking the threat lightly. “Depending on what happens, when it happens, if it happens, we’ve looked at what kind of legal actions we could take,” Scott told WYPR. “We’ll just be prepared to do whatever we need to do in that moment.”
That clash followed a nasty back-and-forth on social media between Trump and Maryland Gov Wes Moore, which ended with Trump threatening to unleash troops on Charm City.
Illinois Gov JB Pritzker also pushed back. “When did we become a country where it’s OK for the US president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don’t want?” Pritzker fumed to reporters last week.
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