Earlier this month, President Donald Trump dispatched National Guard troops to the streets of Washington, D.C. in an effort to tackle what he has characterized as a city out of control and plagued by crime.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals,” Trump declared. D.C. residents were largely unamused and have expressed their displeasure in protests throughout the district.
Trump also upped the stakes by declaring federal control of the district’s police department and naming an emergency chief. That set off alarms and prompted local officials to sue to stop the effort — a compromise has since been reached, leaving the city in control.
There are now around 800 National Guard troops on the streets and Vice President JD Vance went to greet some of them at Union Station on Wednesday alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Vance said the troops were specifically deployed to the station to deal with “vagrants.”
In addition to the group of politicians being faced with boos and derisive chants from protesters, the photo op was also marred by the fact that, amid the throng of security personnel, a wallet was stolen from a reporter.
Leah Vredenbregt, a producer with Gray Television’s Washington bureau, tweeted on Wednesday: “I covered JD Vance’s trip to Union Station today. He wanted to show how safe Union Station is because of a federal takeover.
“At no point was I less than 4 feet from a federal agent. And yet, my wallet disappeared and was immediately used at a liquor store.”
In a follow-up post, Vredenbregt gave a few more details: “Yes, this happened. The wallet was IN MY HAND when I filmed the arrival, 5 minutes later it was no longer in my hand 🙃.”
She then added a screenshot of an alert she received from her bank, after locking her card, having realized it had been stolen.
The image shows that a purchase totaling $55.16 at District Liquors had been declined at 1:06 p.m. ET.
Tonight, Trump is expected to hit the streets and join patrols of the nation’s capital.
“I’m going to be going out tonight with the police and with the military, of course,” Trump said Thursday in an interview with radio host Todd Starnes. “So we’re going to do a job. The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job.”
The outing, one that would likely involve in-depth security planning under normal circumstances, was not announced as part of the president’s public schedule. White House officials told Politico details about the appearance are “forthcoming.”
Trump’s federal policing operation is wildly unpopular within the capital. An estimated 8 in 10 D.C. residents oppose the takeover, according to a Washington Post survey released on Wednesday.
The latest crime statistics reveal a sharp decline in most major categories of crime across the district, which began well before the president took any action.
