President Trump ventured one-tenth of a mile beyond the gates of the White House for dinner on Tuesday night, only to be met almost immediately by protesters who called him “the Hitler of our time.”
Mr. Trump made the short trek from the White House to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab to show that his federal crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital was working. But as he made his way through the restaurant, protesters began to heckle him.
“Free D.C.,” they shouted, according to videos posted on social media. “Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time.”
For Mr. Trump, the visit was supposed to be a victory lap.
“We’re standing right in the middle of D.C.,” Mr. Trump told reporters before going into the restaurant. “This was one of the most unsafe cities in the country. Now it’s as safe as anywhere in the country.”
But Mr. Trump remains deeply unpopular in Washington, and videos of the protesters confronting the president quickly ricocheted across social media.
A close confrontation with protesters is a relatively rare occurrence for Mr. Trump since taking office, as he has spent most of his time at the White House or at his private clubs in Florida, Virginia or New Jersey. But recently the president has seemed more willing to step out in public. On Sunday, he attended the men’s final of the U.S. Open in New York, where he drew boos and some cheers. On Thursday, he plans to attend the Yankees game in New York on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
It was Mr. Trump’s first meal at a Washington restaurant since returning to the White House in January. During his first term, the president was a regular visitor to the Trump International Hotel, just down the street from the White House, but that hotel closed in 2022.
On Tuesday night, Mr. Trump was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other top White House officials. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump and his aides ate crab, shrimp, salad, steak and dessert.
“The food was phenomenal and the service was fantastic,” Ms. Leavitt said.
The president deployed the National Guard to Washington last month as part of an effort to reduce crime, even though crime had been falling in the city. The White House has eagerly touted the number of arrests since Mr. Trump declared a crime emergency, though many of the arrests have been for minor offenses. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington has had to downgrade or dismiss a number of cases after failing to secure indictments from grand juries.