On Thursday, August 21, President Donald Trump stopped by a US Park Police facility in Washington, DC. Speaking to law enforcement officers and National Guard troops at the facility, he praised them for being “incredible people” who “make the whole place run.” He also referred to them as “healthy, attractive people.”
During his speech, Trump suggested that DC feels way safer after he deployed National Guard troops to patrol the city and took control of the police department. “We’ve had some incredible results that have come out, and it’s like a different place. It’s like a different city. It’s the capital. It’s going to be the best in the world,” he said.
Trump went on to claim that he has received “so many phone calls” from people who want to thank him for “what we’ve done.” According to him, these unnamed people “have not gone to a restaurant literally in four years” but now they supposedly go out on a regular basis.
President Trump: "I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in DC and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back.." pic.twitter.com/JpoblecuoB
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 11, 2025
Meanwhile, PBS reported that staff at a DC day care didn’t feel safe going to work that same due to the presence of federal agents in the area. The day care was “partially closed” and parents were encouraged to not drop their kids off there. Additionally, some day cares in the city are not taking children on walks anymore for the same reason.
Though Trump has taken credit for reducing crime in the city, violent crime actually started decreasing prior to his return to office, per the Washington Post. While at the facility on Thursday, Trump acted like the country’s overall reputation had improved as well. “As far as the country’s concerned, we’re respected again,” Trump claimed. “We had a country that was laughed at a year ago.”
The president also mentioned “go[ing] on to other places” after DC. “But we’re going to stay here for a while,” he said. “We want to make this absolutely perfect. It’s our capital.”
Elsewhere in the speech, he also boasted about the ballroom he wants to build in the White House. “ They’ve been after a ballroom [in the White House] for 150 years, but they never had a real estate guy as a president,” Trump said. He also thinks his golfing experience will come in handy when it comes to improving the city.
As everything gets more expensive, Trump is spending his time worrying about the grass in DC parks pic.twitter.com/A33X208K6T
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) August 22, 2025
“One of the things we’re going to be redoing is your parks. I’m very good at grass because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place,” he said. “And we’re going to be re-grassing all of your parks, all brand new sprinkler systems, the best that you can buy, just like Augusta. … It’ll look like, more importantly, Trump National Golf Club.”
