President Donald Trump took a field trip Thursday to the U.S. Park Police operations facility in Washington, where he addressed about 300 National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officials and praised his military crackdown on crime and immigration in the city.
The White House said there have been 630 arrests, including 251 people who are in the country illegally, since Aug. 7, when Trump began ordering federal agents into the city. Trump has been ratcheting up the intensity since then, seizing control of the D.C. police department on Aug. 11 and deploying more National Guard troops, mostly from Republican-led states.
Trump suggested that operations in Washington could be drawn out and serve as a model for others around the country.
“We’re going to make it safe, and we’re going