President Trump made a rare visit to a D.C. restaurant on Tuesday night, where he was met with heckles and protests.
“I wouldn’t have done this three months ago, four months ago, I certainly wouldn’t have done it a year ago,” Trump told reporters.
Trump says D.C. restaurants are booming, but many are struggling On his way to dinner, Trump told reporters that D.C. restaurants “are now booming.”
Part of that drop might be explained by the fact that Summer Restaurant Week was held during that period last year.
Reservation traffic has largely rebounded in the days since, including during this year’s Summer Restaurant Week, which started on Aug. 18.
A D.C received a rare visit from President Trump. Tuesday night at the restaurant, where he encountered protests and heckles.
One block from the White House, the president went to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab, a chain restaurant in Miami with a long history of famous customers, including Trump, who, according to owner Stephen Sawitz, visited the restaurant’s Florida location in the 1990s.
Trump had his first DdotC. He only dined out at the now-closed steakhouse inside his former hotel during his first term. This was the restaurant outing of his second term, and possibly of his presidency. But Tuesday’s outing’s timing isn’t random.
Trump announced a crime emergency in D.C precisely one month prior to his dinner. which has seen large-scale demonstrations against them, as well as National Guard troops policing the streets and local police collaborating with federal law enforcement to stop individuals at traffic stations. His mastery over DdotC. After Wednesday, police is scheduled to retire.
According to data, crime in the nation’s capital has decreased (compared to last August), but it has not completely disappeared, despite Trump’s recent claims to the contrary. With Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at his sides, he made similar claims of success outside the restaurant.
“I definitely wouldn’t have done this a year ago,” Trump told reporters, adding that he wouldn’t have done it three or four months ago. “This was among the nation’s most dangerous cities. We’re having dinner with cabinet members here because it’s the safest place in the nation right now, and everyone should leave. “.”.
Videos taken outside the restaurant show that when Trump arrived, the crowd outside cheered and jeered. The White House released a video showing the enthusiastic applause and cheers from his fellow diners as he entered, demonstrating the warmer reception he received.
“We have a safe city now,” Trump informed them. “Enjoy yourselves, and you won’t be robbed on the way home. “,”.
Protests, however, broke up Trump and his team’s victory lap as they approached their table. Standing just inches from the president, a number of individuals who subsequently claimed to be from the feminist organization CODEPINK chanted, “Free DdotC. Trump is our modern-day Hitler. Free Palestine. “,”.
The group posted videos of Trump listening with his head tilted and then waving a finger to get the demonstrators to leave. NPR asked the White House for comment on the exchange, but they haven’t replied.
Protester Olivia DiNucci later stated from the street, “we need troops out of everywhere,” referring to Gaza, where the U.S. A. does not have troops on the ground but backs Israel in its conflict with Hamas — as well as Puerto Rico and Venezuela, where the U.S. S. has increased military activity in the last few weeks.
As she continued, “We were in there saying: He will absolutely not be able to have dinner in peace.”.
Since then, the restaurant Joe’s has been inundated with one-star reviews and comments about Trump on its Facebook page, many of which are critical of the president and the establishment for having him there. It refused to comment on Trump’s visit in an email to NPR.
Trump is accustomed to being jeered when he goes out in public. Only a few days prior, he was at the U. A. Sunday’s half-empty stadium saw mixed applause and jeering from spectators as the Open men’s finals in New York City left many ticket buyers stuck in long lines outside due to increased security.
After marking the anniversary of the September attacks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters that Trump would be in the stands at a Yankees home game on Thursday, marking his next high-profile sporting event in New York. 11 acts of terror during a ceremony at the Pentagon.
“DdotC,” Trump says. Restaurants are doing very well, but many are having trouble.
On his way to dinner, Trump informed reporters that DdotC. These days, restaurants “are booming.”. “,”.
The president declared that the city was safe and that people were going out to dinner where they hadn’t gone in years.
However, the data presents a mixed picture, both anecdotal and otherwise.
In general, August is a slow month for DdotC. dining, since many locals and Congress are away for recess. However, information from OpenTable, an online dining platform, revealed that DdotC. The week following Trump’s August declaration of a crime emergency saw a 24 percent year-over-year decline in restaurant reservations. 10.
The fact that Summer Restaurant Week took place during that time last year may help to explain some of that decline. Hundreds of participating restaurants provide multi-course meals at set prices as part of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s (RAMW) celebration of the local dining scene.
But because of the additional police officers stationed throughout the city, some residents have purposefully avoided eating out, as NPR reported last week. However, some claim that they feel safer than they did previously when they go out to eat.
In the days since, including during this year’s Summer Restaurant Week, which began in August, reservation traffic has mostly increased again. 19. This year, RAMW extended it through the end of August for an additional week.
RAMW’s president and CEO, Shawn Townsend, told NPR earlier this month that restaurants were already having trouble keeping up with rising expenses for everything from labor to rent control to the food itself.
According to him, “my folks are just trying to get through the next couple weeks,”.
In a statement to NPR on Wednesday, Townsend said that when RAMW polled its more than 1,500 members earlier this year, restaurant operators’ top concerns were immigration, federal workforce reductions, inflation, and tariffs, not crime, even though he acknowledged that safety “will always be a priority.”. “,”.
The combination of summer travel, intense heat, and increased federal presence resulted in softer sales and less foot traffic in August, which he acknowledged was challenging for many operators.
Restaurants “are ready to meet this moment and welcome guests back to experience the vibrancy and hospitality that define dining in the District,” Townsend continued, adding that fall customarily “brings renewed energy to our city,” from the return of Congress to college students. “.
