President Trump says he will patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., on Thursday night alongside law enforcement and the military, just one day after Vice President JD Vance and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, paraded through Union Station to meet with National Guard soldiers.

Although Washington residents are broadly opposed to Mr. Trump’s takeover of the local police force, the president himself has touted the initiative as a victory. Mr. Vance said there has been a sharp drop in violent and property crimes over the 10 days since the president issued his emergency declaration. 

On Thursday, Mr. Trump said that he would be going out to see the city for himself. 

“I’m gonna be going out tonight, I’m gonna keep it a secret, but I’m gonna go — you’re the only one that knows,” Mr. Trump jokingly told a conservative radio host, Todd Starnes, on Thursday afternoon. 

“I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military, of course, so we’re going to do a job,” Mr. Trump said. “The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job.”

The president rejected criticism from Democrats and local officials over his takeover of the district. “Because I sent in people to stop crime, they said: ‘He’s a dictator!’” the president said, reporting that many people have been calling him privately to praise his decision. 

A White House official confirms to the Sun that the president will be on the streets tonight, though without providing details. 

Mr. Vance made a surprise trip Wednesday to the city’s main train depot, Union Station, alongside Mr. Hegseth and a top White House aide, Stephen Miller. The vice president, who was greeted with shouts of  “couchf—er,” and “Free D.C.,” said he was proud that families could now take their families to the historic transportation center without fear of being harassed or attacked.

The station had long been a destination for homeless people and drug users who would often yell at passersby. 

“If you look at what’s happened in Washington, D.C., in just the last nine days, we see a 35 percent reduction in violent crime, we’ve seen an over 50 percent reduction in robberies, we are seeing really substantial effects because these guys are busting their ass,” Mr. Vance said alongside the National Guard soldiers who had been deployed to Union Station.