President Donald Trump made an evening stop at Joe’s Seafood restaurant near the White House. He planned to use the outing as both a celebration and a demonstration of how his DC takeover had made the city safe — only to be immediately interrupted by protestors.
According to the AP, Trump stopped outside the restaurant to talk to the press and, much like his other public appearances at sporting events, was met with a mixture of cheers and boos. He quickly claimed that his decision to federalize DC had made it “safer.”
This wasn’t his first public appearance since taking over DC. Earlier, he had stopped at the U.S. Park Police, where he boasted that he had been receiving calls from people saying they finally felt safe returning to restaurants. In reality, reports showed that restaurant reservations were trending downward. And since Trump has floated the idea of federalizing other cities like Chicago, his administration may have decided to stage the outing as proof that even the president himself is now going out for dinner.
Trump told the gathered crowd, “We’re standing right in the middle of D.C., which as you know about, over the last year, was a very unsafe place — over the last 20 years — and now it’s got virtually no crime.” Of course, he said this while surrounded by the Secret Service, making his assessment of which streets are unsafe somewhat skewed, to say the least.
But once Trump and his large group entered the restaurant, his encounter with protestors was only beginning. A collective called Code Pink confronted the president, chanting, “Free D.C., free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time.”
Trump didn’t respond and instead smiled awkwardly until his security detail escorted the protestors out of the restaurant. At this point, he’s likely accustomed to such demonstrations, though he did gesture in a way that suggested slight confusion.
CODEPINK activists disrupted Trump, Vance, Hegseth, Rubio, and other cabinet members’ dinner.
— CODEPINK (@codepink) September 10, 2025
They feast while Gaza starves.
Trump is the Hitler of our time.
Free DC. Free Palestine!
Stop terrorizing communities all over the world!! pic.twitter.com/dPLeWIwHLH
Code Pink’s time with the president was brief, but their X account clarified the broader issues they wanted to raise. In a post following the restaurant protest, the group singled out top Trump administration officials such as Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, questioning whether this was the time for a celebratory steakhouse trip given their record. The post read in part: “Two years into genocide, Gaza is under evacuation orders, Puerto Rico and Venezuela are in the crosshairs, and the Pentagon openly calls itself the Department of War.”
While Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and others feasted at a steakhouse, we stood our ground and told them the truth: Free DC. Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time.
— CODEPINK (@codepink) September 10, 2025
Two years into genocide, Gaza is under evacuation orders, Puerto Rico and Venezuela are in… pic.twitter.com/546qb1s1MO
Meanwhile, Trump then went on to somehow both credit and condemn Israel for its latest bombing in Qatar. So even as much of the public views the war unfavorably and calls for it to end after two years of continuous violence, it’s clear Trump isn’t ready to accept an end to the conflict under the current terms of the on-and-off negotiations.
What protesters and even regular everyday people on both sides of the political aisle want to see is an end to this war. The Trump administration might engage in their usual social media posturing by issuing threats, but true leadership means ensuring peace. Maybe then they will finally be able to enjoy their meals without disruption from protesters.
