Washington — President Trump said he’s going out in Washington, D.C., Thursday night to patrol the city alongside law enforcement and the National Guard.
Mr. Trump made the announcement as the Metropolitan Police Department tells CBS News no homicides have been reported in the district in over a week, after the Trump administration began an anti-crime initiative that’s swamped the city with federal law enforcement and National Guard members.
“I’m going to be going out tonight, I’m going to keep it a secret,” the president joked to radio host Todd Starnes. “…I’m going to be out tonight I think with the police, and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job. The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job.”
The president’s visit also comes a day after Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller visited National Guard members posted at Union Station.
It’s not clear what the president’s outing will look like, and whether he’ll remain in his motorcade or visit a particular location.
Since the Trump administration began its anti-crime initiative, a total of 630 arrests have been made, and 86 illegal guns have been seized, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Unlike other presidents, Mr. Trump has made few ventures into the district, other than to deliver speeches or, during his first term, to visit his former hotel down Pennsylvania Avenue. Past presidents have occasionally dined at D.C. restaurants.
Mr. Trump has insisted that people he knows feel safer in the city than they have before.
“People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C. in two years are going out to dinner,” Mr. Trump claimed earlier this week.
According to local police data, violent crime in D.C. has been declining for the last year and a half after spiking in 2023. As of Aug. 11, robberies this year are down 28% and overall violent crime is down 26%. Last year, violent crime in the capital city hit its lowest level in more than 30 years, the Justice Department said.
Mr. Trump, however, has called D.C. crime statistics “phony numbers,” and said his administration would “look into that.”
contributed to this report.
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
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