CNN – President Donald Trump dined at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Washington, DC, Tuesday evening, his first foray to an outside eatery in the district since taking office in January.
Trump has eschewed the capital’s restaurant scene since returning to Washington, choosing instead to dine at the White House or occasionally at his nearby golf club in Sterling, Virginia.
He was joined Tuesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Upon entering the restaurant, Trump was met with applause from diners. The president remarked to the group gathered in the dining room that DC is “a safe city” and that they should “enjoy” themselves.
“We have a safe city, so that’s good. Enjoy yourself. You won’t be mugged going home,” the president remarked to diners.
Speaking to reporters outside the restaurant before he entered, Trump said his administration’s crackdown on DC crime was instrumental in his decision to dine out and suggested he’d announce an operation in another city as soon as tomorrow.
“We’ll be announcing another city that we’re going to very shortly — we’re working it out,” Trump said.
“The governor of a certain state would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state would love us to be there. We’ll announce it probably tomorrow, and it’s going to be something where we’ll do like we did here.”
Trump has repeatedly waffled on whether he would send federal troops to Democratic-controlled cities like Chicago and Baltimore, and he enjoys unique authority in DC, which is not a state. He hailed his own efforts there just before sitting down for dinner.
“I wouldn’t have done this three months ago, four months ago, I certainly wouldn’t have done it a year ago,” Trump said.
“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.”
