President Donald Trump announced he is “going out” on patrol in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night alongside the National Guard and the police.
Trump’s announcement sparked widespread mockery on social media platform X, where many users criticized the president for the federal takeover of the nation’s capital. Trump announced earlier this month that the federal government would be taking over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to crack down on crime, despite the city’s statistics showing a drop in crime in recent years.
“I’m going to be going out tonight. I think, with the police, and with the military, of course,” Trump told radio host Todd Starnes. “So we’re gonna do a job. The National Guard is great, they’ve done a fantastic job.”
It remains unclear what specific activities the president will undertake alongside law enforcement. A senior White House official told CNN that the details of the patrol are still being worked out.
The announcement prompted social media users to roast the president on Thursday. Project Lincoln shared an edited photo of Trump depicted as the main character from “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” on X.
Political analyst Tom Sherwood explained on X that Trump is “not going to ‘patrol.’”
“He’s going to do a photo-op with cops and National Guard. A few minutes of grip and grin, with a few sloppy salutes thrown in. Big difference! And the media will eat it up like free Big Macs,” Sherwood wrote on X.
Democratic media personality Fred Wellman questioned how Trump is really going to “patrol” the streets of D.C.
“Trump is hitting the streets of D.C. tonight. I am dying to see how they set it up like he is visiting Baghdad. Five bucks he drives around town in the Beast with a military escort and calls it a ‘patrol’ or something,” Wellman wrote on X.
MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski jabbed the president over his plan, noting that Trump had previously called himself a “war hero.”
“He said he was a ‘war hero” and ‘always wanted to win a Purple Heart.’ Now soldier Trump heads out on patrol,“ Filipkowski wrote on X.
Trump’s presence during his controversial crackdown, which has lasted for two weeks, would be the latest show of force from the White House. Hundreds of federal agents and National Guard soldiers have surged into Washington this month, leaving some residents on edge and creating tense confrontations in the streets.
Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday visited some of the troops at Union Station, showing their support while protesters chanted “free D.C.”
Although the city has historically struggled with crime, statistics show the problem was declining before Trump declared there was a crisis that required his intervention.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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