JD Vance claims 35% crime drop in 9 days throughout Union Station go to

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A throng of protesters chanted slogans as Vice President JD Vance thanked Nationwide Guard and police at Union Station in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

Vance praised regulation enforcement and mentioned that violent crime had dropped by 35% within the 9 days since President Donald Trump ordered the crackdown. The vp appeared alongside Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and White Home deputy chief of employees Stephen Miller, every of whom remarked on the shouting protesters.

Over the previous a number of years, Vance described Union Station as having vagrants, drug addicts, "chronically homeless" individuals and the mentally in poor health threatening violence and attacking households within the public transportation hub.

"I believe you hear these guys outdoors right here screaming at us. In fact, these are a bunch of loopy protesters. However I will inform you, a few years in the past, once I introduced my youngsters right here, they had been screamed at by violent vagrants. And it scared the hell out of my youngsters," Vance mentioned.

"I do know that we have traded now, some violent, loopy people who find themselves screaming at youngsters with just a few loopy liberals who're screaming on the vp. However I believe that is a really worthwhile commerce to make, as a result of we would like our individuals to have the ability to take pleasure in our stunning cities," Vance continued. "That is your metropolis. You must be happy to come back and go to right here."

EXPERT FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEMS PUSHING 'CHERRY-PICKED' CRIME STATS TO RESIST TRUMP'S DC CRACKDOWN

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth go to the Nationwide Guard troops at Union Station in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 20, 2025. (Alexander Drago / POOL / AFP)

Vance additionally clashed with a reporter who requested if he had proof of Washington's crime drawback.

"You simply have to go searching – clearly D.C. has a horrible crime drawback," he mentioned, pointing to how Division of Justice and FBI statistics "again it up."

"Simply discuss to a resident of this metropolis, this stunning, nice American metropolis," Vance mentioned. "We hear these individuals outdoors screaming ‘Free D.C.' Let's free D.C. from lawlessness."

"It's form of weird we've got a bunch of previous, primarily White people who find themselves on the market protesting the insurance policies that preserve individuals protected after they have by no means felt hazard of their total lives," the vp added.

Miller was much more blunt, describing most of the protesters as "aged" and "over 90 years previous."

EXPERT FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEMS PUSHING 'CHERRY-PICKED' CRIME STATS TO RESIST TRUMP'S DC CRACKDOWN

"We’re not going to let communists destroy a fantastic American metropolis, not to mention the nation's capital," Miller mentioned, deriding the protesters as "silly White hippies."

Vice President JD Vance eats a Shake Shack hamburger with members of the Nationwide Guard at Union Station in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 20, 2025. (AL DRAGO/POOL/AFP through Getty Photographs)

"For too lengthy, 99% of this metropolis has been terrorized by 1% of this metropolis," Miller mentioned. "And the voices that you just hear on the market, these loopy communists, they don't have any connection to town. They don't have any households. They weren't raised on this metropolis. They've nobody that they are sending to high school on this metropolis. They don't have any jobs on this metropolis. They don't have any connections to this group in any respect. They're those who've been advocating for the 1%. The criminals, the killers, the rapists, the drug sellers."

The Trump administration’s crackdown on violent crime in D.C. has already netted lots of of arrests. The present of drive has swept up gang members, theft suspects and immigration violators . On Friday alone, 52 individuals had been arrested, together with 28 unlawful immigrants, whereas three weapons had been seized.

Nationwide Guard troops stand at Union Station amid protesters, days after President Trump ordered a crackdown on crime within the metropolis. (Fox Information Digital/Emma Woodhead)

Federal groups have additionally cleared dozens of homeless encampments, and officers mentioned these removals had been carried out with out confrontations or arrests.

The operation started quietly on Aug. 7 with the launch of the "Making D.C. Protected and Lovely" activity drive created by Trump in March by way of an govt order.

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He escalated it on Aug. 11 by briefly seizing federal management of the Metropolitan Police Division (MPD) below emergency powers within the Residence Rule Act, the primary such transfer in U.S. historical past.

Fox Information' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox Information Digital protecting nationwide politics and main breaking information occasions. Ship tricks to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.