Trump intends to accompany law enforcement on Thursday night in the streets of Washington, DC

In an apparent attempt to increase awareness of his extensive federal crackdown, President Donald Trump stated in an interview that he plans to accompany police officers on the streets of Washington, DC, on Thursday night.

The president told radio host Todd Starnes on Thursday, “I believe I’ll be going out tonight with the police and the military, of course.”

The specifics of the evening were still being worked out, according to a senior White House official. Some personnel of the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, which would deal with a presidential movement such as this one, were taken aback by the president’s declaration, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

Trump dispatched National Guard troops and directed the federal government to take over the city’s police force earlier this month. His scheduled appearance comes after Vice President JD Vance paid a lunchtime visit to a Shake Shack at Union Station to express gratitude to National Guard personnel who have been deployed to the city on Wednesday, another staged event focused on the DC takeover.

At that event, Vance attended with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but he was often drowned out by demonstrators. With loud cries of “shame,” “this is our city,” and “we want the military out of our streets,” the demonstrators were barred from the second-floor area where the guardsmen lunch was being held.

Trump has repeatedly decried crime in DC, though overall reported crime numbers are lower this year than in 2024, and cast his moves in the city as an effort to make the nation’s capital safer and more beautiful. West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee are among the six states whose Republican governors have declared they will deploy guard members to Washington to assist in the endeavor.

However, Trump’s police takeover is unpopular with city dwellers. According to a recent Washington Post-Schar School poll, 79% of D.C. residents are against the president directing the FBI and National Guard to patrol the city and the federal government to take over the city’s police force.

The story has been updated.