The three Trump administration officials greeted National Guard troops at the capital's Union Station while positioned near a table containing hamburgers for the troops, PBS News reported.
"In just the past nine days, we've seen a 35% reduction in violent crime," Vance told those in attendance.
"We've seen over a 50% reduction in robberies," he added. "We're seeing really substantial effects because these guys are busting their a*****."
Vance said he wanted to thank the National Guard troops in person and hand out some hamburgers to show his appreciation for their efforts.
Hegseth said the National Guard deployments in Washington are needed to ensure residents, visitors and those who work in the capital are safe.
"The American people, the residents of D.C., deserve a safe and beautiful city," Hegseth said. "That's our mission."
He called the National Guard troops "patriots who serve the country" and want to make Washington a "beautiful, safe capital."
The National Guard troops are "proud of this mission" and making sure "law and order is established here in the capital," Hegseth added.
He said the Defense Department is providing the resources that the troops need and working with law enforcement partners to ensure safety in Washington.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered and chanted near Union Station, which drew a rebuke from Vance.
He said the protesters "hate the idea that Americans can enjoy their communities," according to PBS News.
Vance said he went to Union Station with Hegseth and Miller because criminal activity was very high there, which local officials deny.
Miller added to Vance's criticism of the protesters by calling them "stupid white hippies" and said they do not represent Washington, D.C.'s residents, The Hill reported.
"We are not going to let the communists destroy a great American city, let alone the nation's capital," Miller said.
"All these demonstrators you've seen out here in recent days, all these elderly white hippies, they're not part of the city and never have been," Miller said.
"We're going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old," he added.
Trump last week put the federal government in control of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, which has been accused of falsifying crime data. Though Trump administration officials have characterized crime in the city as out of control, in actuality, crime in the district has fallen in recent years or remained flat.
An agreement on Friday put the police department under local control, but Trump sought and received National Guard deployments from West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Louisiana.
About 1,200 National Guard troops are slated for deployment in the capital, in addition to 800 Washington National Guard troops who already are there, according to The Washington Post.
Republican-led states sending hundreds of troops to US capital
Washington (AFP) Aug 18, 2025 -
US President Donald Trump last week ordered the deployment of National Guard forces in Washington as part of what he has billed as a crackdown on crime in the city, despite statistics showing violent offenses are in fact down.
"I've approved the deployment of approximately 200 Mississippi National Guard soldiers to Washington, DC, to support President Trump's effort to return law and order to our nation's capital," Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement.
The announcement followed others over the weekend from the governors of Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina who said they would send troops from their states.
Ohio will provide 150 and South Carolina around 200, while West Virginia will send approximately 350, some of whom have already begun to arrive, according to a statement from the joint task force responsible for the mission.
They will join 800 troops from the DC National Guard who have already been mobilized for the mission. It was not immediately clear why forces from other states were being sent instead of additional personnel from Washington.
The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.
However, data from Washington police shows significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.
The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was spurred by immigration enforcement raids.
That deployment marked the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor.
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