Standing in front of the newly restored Meridian Hill Park fountain, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth joined other Trump administration officials, including Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, in recognition of Trump’s D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.
The cascading fountain was restored this spring after seven years of decay through the efforts of the task force.
Hegseth thanked the scores of National Guard troops lining the reflecting pool at the bottom of the fountain, all of whom participated in the task force, which was created through an executive order in March of 2025.
“From all across this great country — you’re not from Washington, most of you. But this is your capital,” Hegseth said. “And you believe in this 250th year that it should be safe, and it should be secure.”
Blanche joined Hegseth in thanking the men and women of the National Guard and making the city “better than it has ever been.”
“President Trump said that he looked around this city, the capital of the greatest country in the history of civilization, and didn’t like what he saw,” Blanche said. “He didn’t like the crime; he didn’t like the way it looked, and he instructed us to do something about it. And that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
Miller also praised the work of the Guard, saying its presence has resulted in the lowest crime rate the District has ever seen.
“Each and every one of you has been part of the single most successful public safety initiative in the history of this country,” Miller said. “In 12 months, the crime rates in D.C. have gone from among the highest in the world to the lowest recorded in the history of our nation’s capital.”
“It is the largest, fastest, steepest reduction in violent crime that has been achieved in any city anywhere in this country since the recording of crime data has existed,” Miller said.
When asked for a response to Miller’s claims, the mayor’s office had no comment. Last year city officials were celebrating fast-falling crime statistics, claiming overall crime was at a 30-year low already and trending lower.
Outside the park, a few dozen protesters tried to drown out the ceremony, shouting, “Guard go home,” and, “We hate Trump.” Some carried anti-Trump signs and flags, yelling through bullhorns and blowing whistles.
Hegseth directly acknowledged the protesters.
“This background noise this morning is perfect. It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” Hegseth said. “That there’s nothing ideological about this group. There’s nothing political about this exercise. Law and order is something all Americans deserve.”
Although some protesters interacted with Guard members directly, shouting at them at times, no physical altercations occurred, and no one was arrested.
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