The Trump administration’s clampdown on lawlessness in Washington, D.C. is already having a calming effect in the city’s most turbulent neighborhoods.
On Monday, President Trump declared war on crime, vagrancy, and filth in the nation’s capital, bringing hope to many local residents and business owners who have watched the District spiral out of control under corrupt Democrat leadership.
Hundreds of National Guard soldiers have been deployed to help local and federal authorities restore order in D.C.
“They are making their presence felt. You can tell because the streets are quiet. A lot of people don’t want that smoke,” pit master Shawn McWhirter told Border Hawk.
Anacostia is located in Southeast D.C., across the river from Capitol Hill in Ward 8. D.C. has seen an increase in National Guard and federal assets, and we asked the local manager at @DCitySmokehouse what his views on the increase in federal patrols.
"They are making their… pic.twitter.com/xUYjiCA5kL
— Wid Lyman (@Wid_Lyman) August 16, 2025
McWhirter manages DCity Smokehouse, a popular barbecue joint in Anacostia, a depressed Southeast D.C. neighborhood plagued by drugs and violence.
“If they’re doing the right thing and they’re doing right by the people, I ain’t got no problem with it, but as soon as they be on something else, don’t think I’m with it because I’m not,” McWhirter said of law enforcement.
“I’m all about order. We all need order out here just so we can get along and have some type of peace.”
McWhirter is optimistic that the neighborhood might “open back up like it used to be” and children would be able to play outside if crime is reduced.
“You gotta take the streets away from the youngsters,” he said, referencing ‘youths’ and ‘teens’ who wreak havoc across the city.
“The youngsters out here wildin’. They do the wildest things. They got their ski mask on. I’d be like, ‘If I see you with your ski mask on, you’re spending the whole week in jail.’ You’re scaring old folks out here. What are you doing?”
McWhirter said juveniles sometimes show up to his restaurant wearing masks, causing needless tension in his eatery.
“We don’t want to be on edge no more. What they’re doing on the streets, it rolls over on to the good people,” he said.
Hundreds of criminals and illegal aliens have been apprehended in D.C. in the past week, and dozens of homeless encampments have been cleared, the White House stated on Saturday.
Border Hawk White House correspondent Wid Lyman contributed to this report
