WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was telling a Rose Garden audience about his efforts to quell violence in the nation's capital when, as if on cue, his words were drowned out by the wail of sirens from passing vehicles.

“Listen to the beauty of that sound,” Trump said, grinning. “They're not politically correct sirens.”

The moment encapsulated how Trump's law-and-order-at-all-costs push has become a centerpiece of his second term — something he said has surprised him.

“Now it’s like a passion for me,” Trump said on Wednesday as he touted the results of a crackdown named “Operation Summer Heat” in the Oval Office, during which he said the FBI had made 8,000-plus arrests. He said his actions were “many, many steps above” what he’d pledged on the campaign trail last year.

He's deployed

See Full Page