President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening dined at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in downtown Washington, marking the first time he has eaten at a Washington restaurant outside of the steakhouse at the former Trump International Hotel while in office.
As he entered the restaurant, located about two blocks from the White House, a group of protesters confronted his party and chanted directly at the president, shouting, "Free D.C., free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time," video posted online showed. Trump appeared to stare at the protesters before heading to his seat.
Trump was accompanied to the dinner by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Outside the restaurant, Trump told reporters he would not have ventured out to a D.C. eatery "three months ago, four months ago, I certainly wouldn't have done it a year ago," and said the city is now "as safe as it is in the country."
Last month, the president announced he had federalized Washington's police and sent the National Guard to assist with crime prevention in the District. Trump has repeatedly credited that move with improving safety, saying Tuesday that "the restaurants now are booming" and thanking the National Guard for the result.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has cooperated with the federal deployment, but the decision drew a legal challenge from the city's independently elected attorney general, Brian Schwalb, who filed a lawsuit last week arguing that armed soldiers should not be involved in policing. Trump criticized Schwalb's lawsuit on Tuesday and praised Bowser, saying, "We all worked together and the outcome is really spectacular. We have a capital that's very, very safe."
The choice of Joe's, an outpost of the Miami Beach seafood institution designated a historic landmark in 1975, aligns with its downtown location and a clientele described as politically mixed. During Trump's first term, he frequently dined at BLT Prime inside the former Trump International Hotel, a short motorcade from the White House; reporters had recently asked why he had not eaten at other D.C. restaurants while in office. In the Oval Office last week, Trump told reporters he was open to dining elsewhere in the city now that he has declared it safe, asking, "Do you want me to prove you wrong?"
The visit follows other recent public appearances by Trump aides that drew protest. Vance and Hegseth visited National Guard troops patrolling Union Station and brought hamburgers from the train station's Shake Shack, an outing that also attracted demonstrators, according to past reports.
City officials and business owners have offered differing assessments of the impact of federal troop deployments on daily life. While city crime statistics show a reduction in some categories, several restaurant owners have reported a drop in business since the National Guard began assisting in the District earlier this year.
The dinner at Joe's comes amid heightened public scrutiny of the federal presence in the capital, legal challenges over the role of the Guard in local policing, and ongoing demonstrations related to national and international issues. Trump has repeatedly used public appearances to underscore his contention that the District is safer under the federal measures he has enacted.