President Donald Trump on Monday asserted that restaurants in Washington were “busier than they’ve been in a long time,” crediting his decision last week to place the city’s police under temporary federal control and deploy National Guard troops to curb violent crime. Industry figures reviewed by Bloomberg tell a different story. OpenTable booking data show seated reservations in the District fell about 25 percent during the week of 11–17 August compared with the same period a year earlier. Daily declines deepened to as much as 31 percent mid-week, even though the city’s annual Restaurant Week promotion was under way. The slump has coincided with an extraordinary security build-up. Since 11 August, roughly 800 National Guard soldiers and teams from federal agencies have joined local officers on round-the-clock patrols, with another 700 troops slated to arrive from Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the operation has produced more than 300 arrests, including 68 on Saturday night, and the seizure of 59 firearms. Preliminary figures released by the D.C. Police Union point to an immediate drop in street crime—carjackings down 83 percent and robberies 46 percent versus the previous week—bolstering the White House’s claim that the capital is safer. Yet the heavy law-enforcement presence appears to be discouraging foot traffic in hospitality districts, underscoring the early economic trade-offs of the month-long public-safety intervention.