WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump told dozens of law enforcement officers Thursday that his crime crackdown in Washington, DC, was having “incredible results” and that the capital would soon be “spotless” and the “best in the world.”
“It’s like a different city. It’s the capital and it’s going to be the best in the world,” Trump said during a visit to a Park Police operations center in the high-crime Anacostia neighborhood.
“We’re going to do what you’re doing with law enforcement, and very importantly, also, we’re going to physically do it,” he said, describing plans to resurface city roadways and plant new grass in parks.
“You do the job on safety, and I’ll get this place fixed up physically. And we’re going to be so proud of it at the end of six months — but let’s say at the end of a year, this place will be maxed out in terms of beauty,” he said.
“They’re going to say, ‘Boy, this place is spotless.’”
The president presented the group with a dinner of hamburgers, which he said were cooked at the White House and recommended, and pizza from “a good place,” which was revealed to be Wise Guy Pizza.
Local Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers were present for the hastily scheduled appearance, as were members of the National Guard and various federal agencies, including the US Marshals, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations.
“We’re not playing games. We’re going to make it safe, and we’re going to then go on to other places, but we’re going to stay here for a while,” the president said.
Trump last Monday asserted federal control over the MPD, citing high-profile recent crimes and allegations of data falsification involving police records. He also mobilized the National Guard and ordered hundreds of federal agents to help drive down crime.
His takeover has yielded tepid pushback from Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, and her Police Chief Pamela Smith, with both complying with Trump’s directives and saying they welcomed help to reduce violence while disagreeing with the loss of local control.
Federal agents have made 630 arrests, including apprehending 251 suspected illegal immigrants, since Aug. 7, according to figures shared Thursday by the White House. The force has seized 86 illegal guns.
“We want to make this absolutely perfect,” Trump told the law enforcement officers enforcing his orders.
“It’s our capital, and I guess it used to be, many years ago, safe, but it’s certainly not at a very good run — and you’ve got to be strong, you’ve got to be tough, you got to do your job, whatever it takes to do your job.
“Frankly, you make the whole place run,” Trump told the officers.
“We’re going to have the best capital ever. We’re going to have … it’s going to look better than it ever did, even at the White House. I’m building a ballroom. They’ve been after a ballroom for 150 years, but they never had a real estate guy as a president.”
Trump revealed during the visit that his plans to fix up city potholes, road medians and turf projects would be handled by the firm Clark Construction after Congress provides him with the funding.
The grass in DC parks would soon resemble the green at Trump National Golf Clubs, he said.
“We have a life, and grass has a life,” Trump told the cops. “And the grass here died about 40 years ago. So we’re going to be rebuilding all of your parks, and it’s going to happen fast. It’s going to go up like a miracle.”
