Donald Trump faced both cheers and jeers on Tuesday evening as he left the White House for a rare public outing in Washington. The U.S. president dined at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, just a few blocks from his residence, using the occasion to promote his “zero tolerance” campaign in the capital. He was accompanied by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and other officials.
Trump’s arrival drew applause from supporters but also booing from protesters who waved Palestinian flags and shouted “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!”
Videos posted online showed the president approaching the protesters inside the restaurant, pausing a few feet away, nodding and smiling without responding. Moments later, he gestured for the area to be cleared.. Secret Service agents removed the protesters as other diners booed.
Code Pink, a feminist activist group, claimed responsibility for organizing the protest. “While Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and others feasted at a steakhouse, we stood our ground and told them the truth: Free DC. Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time,” the group wrote on social media.
Comparing Donald Trump to Hitler is not just nonsense but also deeply disrespectful. Such a comparison also dangerously downplays the horrors committed by Nazi Germany. It is particularly absurd as the Trump administration is an outspoken ally of Israel and of Jewish communities worldwide. There seems to be a consensus among those commenting on social media that the extreme leftist activists probably never opened a history book in their life.
Speaking to reporters outside, Trump credited his August 7th decision to deploy the National Guard and federalize the police with transforming Washington. “We’re standing right in the middle of D.C., which as you know about, over the last year, was a very unsafe place … and now it’s got virtually no crime,” he said, calling the city a “safe zone.”
Inside, a video circulating on social media showed Trump shaking hands with customers, while Vance greeted diners at their tables. Leavitt later confirmed that the group “enjoyed crab, shrimp, salad, steak and dessert” during the dinner.
The reach of Trump’s anti-crime campaign extends beyond Washington. In June, he sent the National Guard to Los Angeles, and he has said he would expand the measure to other Democratic-controlled cities, including Baltimore, New Orleans, and Chicago. Over the weekend, he posted a photomontage inspired by the movie Apocalypse Now, showing helicopters flying over a burning Chicago cityscape with the caption: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the War Department.”
