Updated September 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM CDT
President Trump made a rare visit to a D.C. restaurant on Tuesday night, where he was met with heckles and protests.
The president ventured one block from the White House to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, a Miami-based chain with a rich history of celebrity patrons (including Trump himself, who visited its Florida location in the '90s, according to owner Stephen Sawitz).
It was Trump's first D.C. restaurant outing of his second term, and arguably of his presidency: During his first term, he ate out only at the since-shuttered steakhouse inside his former hotel. However, the timing of Tuesday's outing is no coincidence.
Trump's dinner came exactly a month after he declared a crime emergency in D.C., which has seen National Guard troops patrolling the streets and local police working with federal law enforcement to stop people at traffic checkpoints— as well as widespread protests against them. His control of D.C. police is set to expire after Wednesday.
Trump has in recent days touted a complete drop in crime in the nation's capital, which data shows is down (compared to last August) but not gone altogether. He made similar claims of success outside the restaurant, flanked by Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"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. "This was one of the most unsafe cities in the country. Now it's as safe as there is in the country, so we're here with Cabinet members having dinner, and everybody should go out."
Trump's arrival drew a mixture of cheers and boos from bystanders outside the restaurant, according to videos from the scene. As he walked inside he received a warmer welcome, with video posted by the White House capturing loud cheers and applause from his fellow diners.
"We have a safe city now," Trump told them. "Enjoy yourselves, you won't be mugged going home."
But as Trump and his aides walked over to their table, their victory lap was punctured by protests. Several people who later identified themselves as members of the feminist group CODEPINK stood inches away from the president, chanting: "Free D.C., Free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time."
Videos posted by the group show Trump listening with his head cocked, then raising a finger to signal for the protesters' removal. The White House has not responded to NPR's request for comment about the interaction.
Speaking afterward from the street, protester Olivia DiNucci said, "we need troops out of everywhere," naming Gaza — where the U.S. supports Israel in its war with Hamas, but doesn't have troops on the ground — as well as Venezuela and Puerto Rico, where the U.S. has stepped up military operations in recent weeks.
"So we were in there saying: He will absolutely not be able to have dinner in peace," she added.
Joe's, the restaurant, has since been flooded with one-star reviews and Trump-related comments on its Facebook page, many critical of the president and the restaurant for hosting him. In an email to NPR, it declined to comment on Trump's visit.
Trump is no stranger to being heckled at public outings. Just days earlier, his presence at the U.S. Open men's finals in New York City on Sunday drew mixed cheers and boos from the half-empty stadium as enhanced security measures kept many ticketholders stranded outside in long lines.
Trump plans to attend another high-profile sporting event in New York on Thursday, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that he will be in the stands at a Yankees home game after commemorating the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks at a Pentagon ceremony.
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."
"People are going out to dinner where they didn't go out for years, and it's a safe city," the president said.
But the data — anecdotal and otherwise — paints a mixed picture.
August is typically a slow month for D.C. dining, given that Congress — and many residents — are out of town for recess. But data from the online dining platform OpenTable showed that D.C. restaurant reservations dropped by an average of 24% year-over-year in the week after Trump declared a crime emergency on Aug. 10.
Part of that drop might be explained by the fact that Summer Restaurant Week was held during that period last year. The event is a celebration of the local dining scene put on by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), in which hundreds of participating restaurants offer multi-course meals at fixed prices.
But, as NPR reported last week, some locals have intentionally avoided dining out because of the extra law enforcement officers deployed across the city. Others, though, say they feel safer on their trip to dinner than they did before.
Reservation traffic has largely rebounded in the days since, including during this year's Summer Restaurant Week, which started on Aug. 18. RAMW extended it for an extra week this year, running through the end of August.
Shawn Townsend, president and CEO of RAMW, told NPR earlier this month that restaurants were already struggling with increased costs, from labor to rent control to food itself.
"My folks are just trying to get through the next couple weeks," he said.
Townsend told NPR in a statement on Wednesday that when RAMW surveyed its over 1,500 members earlier this year, restaurant operators identified their top concerns as inflation, tariffs, federal workforce reductions and immigration — not crime, though he acknowledged safety "will always be a priority."
"We recognize that August was difficult for many operators, with the combination of summer travel, extreme heat, and heightened federal presence leading to softer sales and reduced foot traffic," he said.
Townsend added that fall traditionally "brings renewed energy to our city," from the return of Congress to college students, and that restaurants "are ready to meet this moment and welcome guests back to experience the vibrancy and hospitality that define dining in the District."
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