President Donald Trump stepped out for dinner in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday only to find himself immediately confronted by protesters calling him “the Hitler of our time,” forcing him and his entourage of cabinet officials to stand awkwardly listening to their taunts before they could sit down to eat.
Activists took advantage of Trump’s rare public outing to to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, a short walk from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, to heckle and berate the president with cries of “Free D.C.! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!”
“You are not welcome here!” one woman can be seen telling him in a video shared on social media. “Yes he is,” another diner countered.
Trump initially looked unfazed by the provocation but then gestured to his security team and said impatiently: “Come on. Let’s go. Get them out of here.”
The activist in question was escorted out of the dining area but continued to yell, despite some boos: “He’s terrorizing communities all over the world! From Puerto Rico… to Palestine to Venezuela! He’s not welcome to D.C.! He’s not welcome to Palestine! Palestine is not for sale!”
Only after she had been removed could Trump and his guests take their places at their table.
Joining the president for dinner were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other senior White House officials.
Ultimately undeterred by the disturbance, the group ordered crab, shrimp, salad, steak and dessert, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, which she said was “phenomenal.”
The president had already faced tough questions from the press about Israel and Jeffrey Epstein outside the venue, killing his hopes of a tranquil evening for a trip intended to highlight how safe Washington has become since the administration moved to federalize the policing of the District of Columbia last month.
Trump sent in the National Guard and other federal agents to help local law enforcement stamp out urban crime, despite the official statistics suggesting no such step was necessary.
Given that the president predominantly operates only in the rarified atmospheres of the White House, Mar-a-Lago and his exclusive golf clubs in New York, New Jersey and Virginia, he is seldom confronted by hostile members of the public.
However, he has shown a greater willingness to venture out and about of late, attending the men’s final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in his hometown on Sunday.
He is also set to attend a New York Yankees game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Thursday in honor of the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and could face further boos and taunts if he does so.
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