WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump visited his first DC restaurant that he didn’t own since winning the White House, to demonstrate what he said was a safer capital city.

The beneficiary of Trump's field trip was Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, a couple of blocks from the White House. The menu features a half-dozen oysters for about $24 from Maine, Cape Cod or Prince Edward Island. The seared red snapper is about $47. Or a one-pound Alaskan red king crab goes for $125.

Trump arrived with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump told reporters he was eating out to highlight Washington as a safer city than it was. He was greeted with loud cheers from people across the street and a smattering of boos inside, according to social media video and reporters.

“We have no crime,” Trump told reporters Sept. 2 before saying he might try a DC restaurant to prove it. "You can go and actually walk with your children, your wife, your husband, you can walk right down the middle of the street. You're not going to be shot.”

Trump declared an emergency a month earlier to take over DC’s Metropolitan Police Department. He also deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to bolster security.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters 2,177 people had been arrested since the takeover Aug. 7. Trump blamed stubborn crime on suspects being released without posting cash for bail.

But Trump said he wanted to work with Democratic mayors to fight crime in their cities, such as Chicago, where he began tougher immigration enforcement on Sept. 9.

“Yes, the president wants to work with anyone across this country who wants to end these horrible policies and to bring law and order to our streets,” Leavitt said.

Governors traditionally mobilize the National Guard in their states, but Trump was able to deploy National Guard troops directly in DC because of its unique status as the seat of the federal government.

Trump said he would deploy troops to cities such as Chicago or New Orleans but he would be prefer to be asked by the governors.

“We’re working it out with the governor of a certain state that would love us to be there and the mayor of a certain city in the same state,” Trump told reporters. "We’ll announce it probably tomorrow.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has opposed a deployment and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has welcomed one. California Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to fight a deployment in Los Angeles in federal court.

Trump has previously dined at what was then called the Trump International Hotel near the White House before he sold it. But he didn't venture out to other restaurants like predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton had occasionally.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I'll have seafood, hold the crime: Trump dines out in DC to showcase safer surroundings

Reporting by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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