President Donald Trump had dinner on Tuesday night at a seafood restaurant around the corner from the White House, promoting his deploying of the National Guard and federalizing the police force in an effort to crackdown on crime in the nation's capital.
His motorcade speeding the short distance to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab on 15th Street follows weeks of the president boasting about mobilizing federal authorities and making Washington “a safe zone.”
Some restaurants in Washington have reported drops in reservations since Trump first announced the federal crackdown on Aug. 7, while there have been frequent street protests decrying his actions. Increased military and police presence has occasionally sparked standoffs between resident and authorities in normally quiet neighborhoods.
Trump, before entering the restaurant, says he plans to announce troops to another U.S. city as soon as tomorrow. Trump told reporters: “We’re going to be announcing another city that we’re going to very shortly.”
He didn’t say where but said the mayor of that city, and the governor of the state “would love us to be there” and added that he could make the announcement as soon as Wednesday.
Additionally, Trump added that he’s ‘not thrilled’ about Israel’s attack on Hamas officials in Qatar. “I’m not thrilled about it” Trump said upon arriving at a Washington restaurant for dinner near the White House. “It’s not a good situation.”
The president said he wasn’t notified in advance of the attack. He added, “I’ll be giving a full statement tomorrow. But I will tell you this, I was very unhappy about it. Very unhappy about every aspect.”