Trump visits police, military carrying out Washington crime crackdown

By Steve Holland and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump declared his crime crackdown in the nation's capital a success on Thursday as he visited federal officers deployed under his plan, which has drawn resident complaints that its tactics are too heavyhanded.

Trump visited the U.S. Park Police headquarters in Southeast Washington, D.C., bringing pizza and hamburgers for officers as a gesture of support.

Without citing evidence, the president told several hundred uniformed personnel that their efforts were leading to a drop in crime. "It's like a different place," he said. "Everybody is safe now."

Earlier on Thursday, Trump had said he would go on patrol with law enforcement during his visit, but the ride-along did not happen.

Saying the city was gripped by a violent crime wave, Trump last week declared a public safety emergency. He deployed National Guard soldiers and federal agents on the streets, and said he was temporarily taking over the city's police department in an extraordinary assertion of presidential power.

The crackdown has included ramped-up stop-and-frisk operations, federal patrols in residential neighborhoods and reports of people being stopped with little explanation.

Projecting confidence in the federal response, Trump told the assembled officers that Washington was on the rebound. "We're going to have the best capital ever," he said.

City officials have rejected the claim that violent crime is rampant, pointing to federal and city statistics that show violent crime has declined significantly since a spike in 2023.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, asked by reporters earlier on Thursday if the city was safer now, said the capital has seen a decrease in crime for the last two years.

"We expect that having 500 additional officers will yield more arrests, and we want guns off the streets. Our police officers continue to do the work, and we expect some incremental difference with more officers," she said, referring to the extra personnel ordered by Trump.

The partnership between local and federal law enforcement has been tense at times, with federal agents not only targeting violent crime but also prioritizing immigration arrests and clearing homeless encampments.

Five years after Trump deployed National Guard troops to disperse racial justice protesters outside the White House, his 30-day takeover of local law enforcement has sparked some demonstrations.

These have included in the past week organized protests near the White House as well as city residents and demonstrators spontaneously confronting federal agents. In one incident, a resident was charged with a felony for throwing a sandwich at an officer.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday visited troops at Union Station, Washington's central train hub, where protesters heckled them with jeers and shouts.

Trump on Thursday was joined by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, architect of Trump's migrant crackdown.

Trump's administration this week ordered federal prosecutors in Washington to be more aggressive in pursuing criminal cases against people arrested as part of the crackdown in the nation's capital, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.