President Trump says he will hit the streets of Washington, D.C., on Thursday night to join patrols as part of his administration’s extraordinary federal takeover of law enforcement in the capital.
“I’m going to be going out tonight with the police and with the military, of course,” Trump said Thursday in an interview with radio host Todd Starnes.
The outing, one that would likely involve in-depth security planning under normal circumstances, was not announced as part of the president’s public schedule. White House officials told Politico details about the appearance are “forthcoming.”
Earlier this month, the president put the Washington police force under federal control and began surging hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops to the city for a crackdown on what he said was rampant crime, even though statistics show a sharp recent decline in most major categories of crime.
The federal operation has low public support within the capital. An estimated 8 in 10 D.C. residents oppose the takeover, according to a Washington Post survey released on Wednesday.
Officials have also pushed back, and Attorney General Pam Bondi returned control of the D.C. police to its chief last week after the city sued Trump over the “hostile takeover.” City police are still ordered to cooperate with federal officials.
Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary were met with boos and chants of “free D.C.” on Wednesday when they visited National Guard troops deployed to Union Station.
More than 450 people have been arrested since August 7, the White House announced on Tuesday, though information about the arrests remains limited. It is unclear, for example, whether federal officials are counting all arrests in Washington in their announcements or only those related to the Trump-led operation.
Though the president has framed the operation as a crackdown on street crime, nearly half of those arrested in the push have been immigrants in the country illegally, according to the White House, and immigration agents have been a visible presence throughout the capital.
Masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were seen last week in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, which has a large Hispanic population, tearing down an anti-ICE banner.
“We’re taking America back, baby,” one agent said in a video later posted by the agency.
Critics have accused the more than 2,000 National Guard troops in the capital of largely focusing their efforts on high-visibility areas like the Washington Monument and Union Station, rather than the city’s most high-crime areas.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
