President Trump told conservative radio host Todd Starnes on Thursday he plans on tagging along with DC police and National Guard members as they patrol the capital this evening.
“I’m going to be going out tonight, I think with the police and with the military, of course,” the president said. “So we’re going to do a job — the National Guard is great, they’ve done a fantastic job.”
It was not immediately clear whether Trump planned to personally help apprehend suspects or clear homeless encampments.
The former reality TV host’s use of prior surprise appearances helped him frame his political message — scoring massive publicity during last year’s campaign by taking a shift working at McDonald’s and riding in a garbage truck.
“We’re doing a sort of a test right now in DC. It’s working unbelievably,” Trump told Starnes.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thursday marked 10 days since Trump federalized the Metropolitan Police Department and called out the National Guard in response to a series of high-profile crimes in the district.
On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth treated National Guard members to lunch at DC’s Union Station.
Vance touted the removal of homeless camps from downtown parks, telling a journalist Thursday that it wasn’t “compassionate” to “allow a person who’s schizophrenic… to fester in the streets” or reasonable to have “have crazy people yelling at our kids.”
White House aides have touted preliminary data indicating the show of force was driving down reported crimes, with the president citing anecdotes of locals feeling more safe.
JUST IN: President Trump tells me that he’s going out on patrol tonight with DC law enforcement and the military. Listen to my full interview with the president at 12P ET on The Todd Starnes Show. Listen on more than 170 radio stations or https://t.co/C4rDVyY4gT or on our social…
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) August 21, 2025
Federal agents, supplementing DC police since Aug. 7, have made 630 arrests, including apprehending 251 suspected illegal immigrants — including a high-profile bust Wednesday of an alleged child sex offender near the National Mall.
The Wednesday night deployment included more than 2,000 law enforcement and National Guard members, according to the latest data.
Ten illegal guns were seized, bringing the total confiscated under the operation to 86.
