Donald Trump swore he’d roll into DC with military muscle, but protesters only needed ‘pots and pans’ to celebrate his no-show

Donald Trump made a bold promise on Thursday afternoon that raised eyebrows across Washington, DC. Speaking on a conservative radio show, he announced his plans to personally join law enforcement officers and military personnel on the streets of the nation’s capital that evening. However, when the time came, Trump failed to follow through on his dramatic pledge.

Trump told radio host Todd Starnes during a live interview: “I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job.” The announcement caught many by surprise, including some members of his own Secret Service team who had not been informed of the planned patrol.

According to MSNBC, some protesters had prepared for the president’s announced street patrol by bringing pots, pans, and spoons in their backpacks, ready to bang them together and make their anger at Trump’s federal law enforcement surge known. Instead of the promised patrol, Trump returned to the White House after a brief visit to a police facility.

Trump opts for photo opportunity instead of street patrol

Rather than walking the streets as promised, Trump instead visited the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility in Southeast Washington for about 10 minutes. The visit was more of a standard meet-and-greet with law enforcement personnel than the dramatic street patrol he had teased earlier.

During his brief appearance, Trump spoke to uniformed personnel from various agencies, including the Metropolitan Police Department, National Guard, FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He delivered hamburgers from the White House and pizza to the gathered officers and troops.

The president used the opportunity to discuss topics that seemed unrelated to fighting crime. According to NBC News, he talked about his civil fraud case, a future White House ballroom, artificial intelligence, his grass expertise, and his dislike of wind power.

The failed patrol promise came during Trump’s broader federal takeover of Washington, DC’s police force. On August 11, Trump announced he was placing the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploying 800 National Guard troops to the capital. He cited what he called a crime emergency, despite official statistics showing violent crime in the city has actually decreased.

Crime data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows violent crime is down 26% compared to 2024, reaching what federal prosecutors called a “30-year low” in January. More than 1,900 National Guard troops from multiple states have been mobilized to Washington, marking an unprecedented use of federal power over a local police force. The deployment comes amid reports of leaked Pentagon plans for rapid domestic military response to civil disturbances across American cities.