President Donald Trump met with police and navy in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to supervise the surge in federal law enforcement and National Guard, who’re responding to what he says is against the law emergency within the district.
Trump visited the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility in Southeast D.C., which is serving because the gathering level for all of the businesses concerned within the operation, thanking officers and members of the navy and delivering hamburgers from the White Home and pizza.
Trump left the White Home within the presidential limousine — nicknamed “the Beast” — with U.S. Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi and White Home deputy chief of employees Stephen Miller Thursday afternoon to go to the power.
“I simply wish to thank everyone very a lot for being right here,” Trump mentioned. “I wished to do that. We have had some unbelievable outcomes which have come out, and it is like a special place. It is like a special metropolis. It is the capital. It may be the perfect on the earth.”
President Donald Trump speaks to federal troops on the US Park Police Anacostia operations facility in Washington, August 21, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP through Getty Pictures
The president spoke for a number of minutes, touting his anti-crime push.
“You bought to be robust, you bought to be robust,” Trump urged the group. “You bought to do your job. No matter it takes to do your job.”
President Donald Trump speaks to federal troops on the US Park Police Anacostia operations facility in Washington, August 21, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP through Getty Pictures
In a radio interview earlier Thursday, Trump mentioned he can be “going out tonight” with the legislation enforcement and navy, however he returned to the White Home after the go to to the power.
President Donald Trump speaks with federal troops as Inside Secretary Doug Burgum and Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi pay attention on the US Park Police Anacostia operations facility in Washington, August 21, 2025.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The president mobilized the Nationwide Guard one week in the past to help the police, claiming crime was uncontrolled. Officers have mentioned Guard personnel do not make arrests, solely serving to to detain folks briefly if obligatory earlier than handing them off to legislation enforcement.
Violent crime ranges have decreased compared to years prior, down 26% since 2024, a 30-year low, in line with crime stats launched by town’s Metropolitan Police Division.
Trump instructed radio host Todd Starnes on Thursday that the D.C. deployment was “form of a check” and indicated that they’d copy the mannequin in different cities round America.
“It is working unbelievably, a lot sooner than we thought. We have arrested lots of of criminals, hardline criminals, folks that may by no means be any good,” the president mentioned.
The president mentioned that he would put Memphis “early” on the checklist of subsequent cities to patrol.
“And, , sadly, now we have quite a lot of cities like that. However I really like Tennessee. You understand, I gained Tennessee by many, many, many factors. So it was a landslide, far higher than even, , the Republican. Republicans do good in Tennessee, however, I imply, my number was like 35 points, and I am glad you inform me that I can put that early on a listing, and I am certain that individuals would find it irresistible,” he added.
The Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial are seen as Nationwide Guard troops stroll alongside the Nationwide Mall on August 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
In June, Trump deployed the California National Guard to Los Angeles amid protests towards immigration raids carried out by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the administration, alleging that it violated the Posse Comitatus Act — an 1878 legislation that prevented the president from utilizing the navy as a home police pressure. A ruling has not been issued within the case.
Trump went on to say that he “straightened out crime in 4 days in DC.” The president additionally rebuffed criticism about his actions within the nation’s capital.
“And all I do, all they do is they are saying ‘He is a dictator, he is a dictator’ — the place, persons are getting mugged far and wide, and so they provide you with phony information, like, it is fantastic and it is worse than it ever was, however we have got it going. Persons are so comfortable. They are going out to eating places once more,” he claimed.
Trump’s remarks got here a day after Vice President JD Vance, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and White Home deputy chief of employees Stephen Miller visited the Nationwide Guard at Union Station, the place they had been drowned out by boos from protesters.
Almost 2,000 guardsmen from D.C. and 6 states have been mobilized to help Trump’s mission on the nation’s capital. They continue to be unarmed presently, however officers have mentioned they anticipate that to vary.
Donald Trump speaks throughout a gathering with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP through Getty Pictures
The troops have been stationed exterior many vacationer scorching spots, together with the Nationwide Mall and Union Station, the place crime incidents are known to be lower than different elements of town. Trump and different officers haven’t given a timetable of when the troop deployment will finish.
Vance on Wednesday dismissed crime statistics that confirmed incidents had been decrease in Union Station. He claimed that they don’t report the complete scope of crime in D.C.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday criticized the Trump administration’s federal police surge within the nation’s capital, calling it politically motivated and disconnected from crime within the metropolis.
“This does not make sense. The numbers on the bottom and the district do not help 1,000 folks from different states coming to Washington, D.C.,” Bowser mentioned.
ABC Information’ Luis Martinez and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
