WASHINGTON ― Three top Trump administration officials including Vice President JD Vance fired back at noisy protesters targeting the recent federal takeover of Washington D.C. during a wild scene at Union Station, the city's transit hub.

Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller, a senior White House official, dropped by Union Station unannounced on Aug. 20 for a photo-op to tout President Donald Trump's recent deployment of National Guard troops to the nation's capital to crack down on crime.

But as the trio spoke from a Shake Shack to claim credit for bringing down crime, a small group of protesters could be heard from the main hall chanting "Free D.C.!" and producing a drumbeat of noise that drowned out and visibly irritated the Trump officials.

Miller, the White House's deputy chief of staff, called the protesters "crazy communists" who have no connections to Washington D.C., accusing them of advocating for "the criminals, the killers, the rapists, the drug deals."

"I'm glad they're here today," Miller said in brief remarks, "because me, Pete and the vice president are going to leave here, and inspired by them, we're going to add thousands more resources to this city to get the criminals and the gang members out of here."

Miller went on to label the protesters "elderly white hippies" in a city that has more Black residents than white residents.

"Most citizens in Washington D.C. are Black. This is not a city that has had any safety for its Black citizens for generations, and President Trump is the one who is fixing that," Miller said. "So we're going to ignore these stupid white hippies. They all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old."

Vance, who claimed violent crime in D.C. has dropped 35% in nine days, also took note of the loud demonstrators.

"Of course, these are a bunch of crazy protesters. But I'll tell you: A couple of years ago, when I brought my kids here, they were being screamed at by violent vagrants, and it scared the hell out of my kids," the vice president said.

Vance said Union Station is now a place where parents can safely bring their children again.

"As Stephen said, it's kind of bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white, people who are protesting the policies that keep people safe, when they've never felt danger in their entire lives," Vance said.

Declaring a local crime emergency in D.C., Trump on Aug. 11 deployed 800 National Guard troops to the streets of Washington and took action to seize control of the city's police force. Trump said the extraordinary steps were necessary to combat crime in the city, even though Washington's violent crime rate was down 26% in 2025 compared with last year.

The National Guard has maintained a major presence at Union Station, a frequent stop for visitors of Washington but not a destination in one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods.

"We talked to a first-responder before we came up here," Hegseth said. "They said this is their No. 1 call location ‒ Union Station ‒ for first responders. So it's not as if this is insignificant. In many ways, this is part of the epicenter."

During their visit to Union Station, Vance, Hegseth and Miller thanked the guard members for their service. After speaking for 12 minutes to reporters, Vance stuck around at Shake Shack to have lunch with the troops.

“You guys bust your ass all day and we give you hamburgers ‒ not a fair trade but we’re grateful for everything you do," Vance said.

This story was updated to add new information.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump official slams 'elderly white hippies' as Vance mocks pushback to DC takeover

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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