Restaurant Traffic in Washington DC Nosedives After Trump Deploys Troops
The number of people dining out in Washington DC has plummeted since Donald Trump ordered federal troops and the national guard into the city as part of his so-called crime crackdown, new data reveals.
Dining Decline After Military Deployment
According to research by OpenTable, restaurant attendance dropped significantly compared to 2024. On Monday, reservations were down 16%, on Tuesday they fell 27%, and by Wednesday — two days after troops rolled into DC — dining numbers had collapsed by 31%.
The sharp decline coincided with the sight of military vehicles and armed soldiers patrolling the capital, leaving both locals and tourists uneasy.
Trump’s Claims vs Reality
Trump announced his move on 11 August, claiming Washington had been “overtaken by violent gangs, drugged-out maniacs, roving mobs, and homeless people.”
But official statistics tell a very different story: violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low.
Democrats Push Back
On Friday, Democrats introduced a joint resolution condemning Trump’s action as an attack on DC home rule. They accused him of overreaching presidential power and using military force as a political distraction.
Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland slammed Trump, saying the deployment was a ploy to divert attention from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and his failure to release the promised Epstein files.
“The only emergency here is a lawless president facing a public relations crisis because of his refusal to release the Epstein file,” Raskin said.
A Convenient Distraction
Other Democrats echoed that Trump’s move was less about crime and more about burying bad headlines.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told NBC that Trump was trying to shift the spotlight from two damaging issues:
His broken promise to release the Epstein documents.
His economic failures, including a $1 trillion Medicaid cut that could cause healthcare premiums to skyrocket by 75%.
“This is just a stunt,” Murphy said. “Trump didn’t want Americans talking about collapsing healthcare or his protection of powerful people in the Epstein scandal. So, true to form, he created a new crisis to change the conversation.”
The Bigger Picture
Instead of boosting safety, Trump’s militarized response has emptied restaurants, hurt businesses, and triggered a political firestorm. For many, it’s proof that his so-called crime crackdown is more about controlling the narrative than protecting the people of Washington DC.