Donald Trump teased he would patrol the streets of D.C. with police on Thursday night but ended up dropping off fast food at a law enforcement facility where he thanked officers, boasted about his achievements and ate a slice of pizza.
As the president continues to exert control over the nation’s capital, Trump suggested on Thursday morning that he would join officers as part of his crime crackdown, telling The Todd Starnes Show: “I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police, and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job.”
The announcement took White House aides by surprise, given the logistics and security planning required for a president to make such a public appearance.
But after hours of cable networks promoting his prospective patrol, Trump ended up doing a 44-minute campaign-style stop at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility in Southeast D.C before returning to the White House in his motorcade.
“We just want to thank everybody very much for being here,” he told the National Guard and police officers who had gathered for the hastily-convened event.
“We’ve had some incredible results that have come out, and it’s like a different place; it’s like a different city.”
Trump left the White House in the presidential limousine–better known as “the Beast”–with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller shortly after 5pm.
After commenting on the “healthy, attractive looking group of people” in the crowd, he delivered a short speech in which he spoke about everything from the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” to investments from Saudi Arabia and competing with China.
He also talked about how he was beautifying DC with street repairs and new grass, as well as revamping the White House.
“I’m building a ballroom,” he boasted. “They’ve been after a ballroom for 150 years, but they never met a real estate guy as a president, and I’ve done a lot of ballrooms. We’re going to make this one the best of them all.”
After glowing speeches from Bondi, Interior Minister Doug Burgum and Fox News host-turned-DC Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s aides handed out burgers that he said had been “cooked by the White House” as well as pizzas from Wise Guy.
The president also enjoyed a slice before leaving in his motorcade shortly before 6 p.m.
Trump arrived at back the White House at a few minutes later, before a “lid” was called for the reporting pool, which signals that no further public events would take place.
The visit was low key compared to the botched media stunt that Miller, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conducted at Union Station the day before.
The trio had come for a photo op with National Guards who had been stationed at the venue, only to be heckled by angry protesters variously describing them as “Nazis” and an “embarrassment.”
The reception was emblematic of the animosity some locals feel towards D.C. being depicted as a hellscape by the administration, when the reality, for many residents, is vastly different.
The level of crime in the capital has been hotly contested in recent weeks as the president moved to federalize the local police and bring in the National Guard to tackle what he has depicted as a city of lawlessness–even though figures from D.C. Metropolitan Police show crime in the district has fallen to its lowest point in 30 years.
However, Trump believes the numbers are fake and suggested last week that he would release his own crime stats to counter D.C.’s official figures.
“We’re going to have the best capital ever,” he told officers on Thursday, recounting a story about one man who called him to say he finally took his wife and kids out to dinner for the first time in four years.
“I’m hearing people are very safe, but I know within two weeks, it’s going to be at a level that’s even far superior.”
