Restaurant reservations across Washington, D.C., have declined in the wake of President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, according to recent data from OpenTable.
The restaurant-reservation service company found that the volume of seated diners from online reservations was down every day last week compared with the same time period in 2024. On Aug. 11 — the day Trump officially announced his plans to “rescue” the nation’s capital — the number of online reservations in the District dropped by 16 percent. Reservations continued to drop in the following days, with Wednesday, Aug. 13, seeing the steepest decline at 31 percent.
For many local restaurateurs, the drastic dip in diners has been worrisome, especially during Summer Restaurant Week, which began on Aug. 18 in Washington. “The bargain-dining promotion is considered a lifeline for restaurants hoping to survive the doldrums of August, when Congress is on recess, locals are on vacation, and many local residents are gearing up for back-to-school season,” The Washington Post reported. This month alone, several D.C. restaurants have been battling numerous obstacles, including rising labor and ingredient costs, soaring rents, federal worker layoffs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits, the outlet specified.
The decline in restaurant reservations only makes current circumstances all the more difficult.
The Post noted that some of the decline in reservations could be due to timing as the dates between Aug. 11 to 17 in 2024 fell during Restaurant Week, instead of before. Data from OpenTable found that on Aug. 18 this year, online reservations were up 29 percent compared to the same day in 2024.
On Monday, Trump spoke about dining in Washington during a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office: “The press says, ‘He’s a dictator, he’s trying to take over.’ No, all I want is security for our people. But people who haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days were busier than they’ve been in a long time.”
Trump added, “Friends are calling me up, Democrats are calling me up. And they’re saying, ‘Sir, we want to thank you. My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years, and Washington, D.C., is safe and you did that in four days.’”
In a statement sent to The Post, White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers underscored Trump’s efforts, suggesting that 52 restaurants closed in Washington in 2023 due to high crime.
“Dozens of DC small businesses, restaurants, and local shops have closed their doors due to the violent crime that has plagued the city,” Rogers said. “President Trump’s bold leadership will restore our nation’s capital by creating opportunities for businesses to flourish without fear of criminals looting and destroying their property. President Trump is delivering on his promise to make DC safer, which will inherently make D.C., more prosperous.”
