President Donald Trump was confronted by chanting protesters as he attended a dinner alongside Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night.
As Trump and his security detail made their way to a table in Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab restaurant, at least three protesters stood up and began shouting.
Chants of “Trump, you are not welcome here” can be heard in video footage from the scene, followed by “free D.C., free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time.” The protesters brandished Palestinian flags and banners as they demonstrated.
Some other patrons, who had cheered upon Trump’s arrival, called out in his defense, yelling “yes he is [welcome].”
The President gestured for his security detail to remove the protesters as they approached his table, saying: “Come on, lets go, get them outta here.”
“He is terrorizing communities all over the world, from Puerto Rico… from Palestine… to Venezuela, he is terrorizing communities. He is not welcome to D.C., he is not welcome to Palestine. Palestine is not for sale,” one protester shouted as they were escorted out. “Shame on you all!”
They continued their chants outside of the restaurant, where they repeated references to Trump’s federal takeover of the police force in D.C.
Code Pink, which describes itself as a “feminist grassroots organization” that protests U.S. wars and militarism, claims to be behind the protest.
Before heading into the restaurant, Trump told reporters outside that he was “not thrilled” about the fact Israel launched an airstrike targeting Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, earlier in the day. “We want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about how that went down today.”
When asked if he was surprised by Israel’s actions, Trump replied: “I’m never surprised by anything, especially when it comes to the Middle East.”
The President’s comments echoed those he made on Truth Social, whereby he doubled down on his position that Israel acted alone in its strikes on Qatar.
“I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack,” Trump said online. “I view Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack.”
Israel also continued its expansion of military operations in Gaza City on Tuesday, issuing “urgent” evacuation orders to “all residents of the city of Gaza and those present in all its neighborhoods, from the Old City and Tafah to the east and up to the sea to the west.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), meanwhile, has warned that “the coastline is already crammed with makeshift shelters, forcing newly displaced families to sleep dangerously close to the water’s edge.”
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