- 1 year ago
Vice President JD Vance and Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth visit National Guard troops in Union Station in Washington, D.C.
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02:38Hey guys, Eddie.
02:39Good to see you all.
02:40Come here.
02:41So, we decided to bring the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Defense, and we appreciate everything that you're doing. So, you know, you guys bust your ass all day, we give you an answer. Not a fair trade, but we're grateful for everything you guys do. So, how long have you guys been working here at this area? Has it been a couple of nine days?
03:03About seven.
03:04About seven. Okay. General, tell me what's going on here. What do you guys see here? Okay.
03:10Well, a lot has changed for the past seven days. You guys are doing a hell of a job. We're proud of you. We're grateful to see you. And just wanted to come by and say thanks.
03:48How are we doing?
04:00How are we doing?
04:11How are we doing?
04:14All right, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm honored. Yeah, of course. Yeah, come here.
04:28We'll take a photo right now.
04:33Where are you from?
04:35Oh, great. Okay, awesome.
04:38We'll make sure you get a copy.
04:39Okay. All right, ready? Three, two, one.
04:41All right, awesome. Yeah, thank you, guys. Appreciate you.
04:46Hey, guys, how you doing? Good to see you all.
04:49How's it going over the hill?
04:52Busy summer?
04:54Super fun.
04:55Super fun? Okay, good.
04:57Okay, well, we appreciate you guys.
04:59Thank you all for your help.
05:00Hey, guys, how we doing?
05:02Good to see you guys. Thank you.
05:04What's up, dude?
05:04Cool. All right, so how are you?
05:05Good to see you.
05:08Okay, man, I appreciate you for coming.
05:10Yeah, so tell them how it's going.
05:14Going a little better here?
05:15Okay.
05:18Do you see the transformation arc?
05:21He's good.
05:21He's good.
05:25Yeah, I'm still in the back.
05:26I want my kids here.
05:28All right.
05:30All right.
05:31All right.
05:31All right.
05:31All right.
05:32All right.
05:32All right.
05:33All right.
05:33All right.
05:34All right.
05:34All right.
05:35All right.
05:36We appreciate you guys helping us out.
06:04It means a lot.
06:05Specials, how are you doing?
06:07Thank you, sir.
06:08How are you doing?
06:13Great.
06:14I'm doing good, man.
06:15I can't complain.
06:16It's a lot more fun I do most days.
06:19All right.
06:20Appreciate it.
06:21Thanks for having me.
06:22All right.
07:22Let's follow here.
07:24Here, you do the way.
07:26Back to where you were.
07:27All right.
07:28All right.
07:41Right here?
07:42Photo right here.
07:44Is that what he said?
07:50So you can be up here.
07:51You can be up here on him.
07:53We're like, we're up here on him.
07:55Wait.
07:55Am I out of your shot?
07:57Good.
07:57Okay.
07:58Cool camera.
07:59Do you want me up on here?
08:00Anyone here?
08:00So we have a few reporters here.
08:04So look, guys, what we want to do here was a couple things.
08:07First of all, we're going to say come and say thank you to the National Guard folks, to the
08:12cops for actually keeping this place safe.
08:15If you look at what's happened in Washington, D.C. in just the past nine days, we've seen
08:20a 35% reduction in violent crime.
08:22We've seen over a 50% reduction in robberies.
08:25We are seeing really substantial effects because these guys are fussing their ass.
08:29So I'm going to come here, highlight what they're doing, say thank you in person, obviously
08:33pass out a few murders.
08:34But most of all, just in the best of the American people, look, we don't have to live like this.
08:39We do not have to allow our cities to be taken over by violence and by disorder and by chaos.
08:45You can actually do stuff.
08:46You can actually bring law and order to communities.
08:51You've just got to have the political willpower to do it.
08:53And I think you hear these guys outside here screaming at us.
08:57Of course, these are a bunch of crazy protesters.
08:59But I'll tell you, a couple of years ago, when I brought my kids here, they were being
09:03screened at by violent vagrants, and it was scaring the hell out of my kids.
09:09And one of the things that we've done already in Union Station in just nine days is we've
09:13made it a place where people can walk around safely.
09:15They can bring their kids again.
09:17They can see this beautiful monument, the architecture.
09:19They can have a meal with their friends and their loved ones because, again, we brought
09:24some law and order back to Washington, D.C.
09:25So I want to thank Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller.
09:28I want to thank all the people, the guardsmen here and the police officers who have worked
09:32very hard.
09:33And I know that we've traded now some violent, crazy people who are screaming at kids with
09:39a few crazy liberals who are screaming at the vice president.
09:42But I think that's a very worthwhile trade to make because we want our people to be able
09:47to enjoy our beautiful cities.
09:48And the last thing I'll say is to the American people, D.C. is already safer than it was nine
09:53days ago, but we're going to make it safer still to come.
09:56This is your city.
09:57You should feel free to come and visit here, have a meal, see all these incredible monuments
10:02and actually enjoy yourself.
10:04And that's what we're trying to make happen.
10:06And I think that if we set a standard in Washington, D.C. that political willpower can bring some
10:11common sense law and order back to these communities, then maybe some other communities and other
10:15cities will follow suit.
10:16So it's kind of crazy.
10:17You hear these guys outside.
10:19They appear to hate the idea that Americans can enjoy their communities.
10:23They do the fact that D.C. a week ago had a higher murder rate than Trojan Avenue.
10:28It's been, though, which the United States State Department has said you shouldn't visit
10:32because it's unsafe.
10:34We ought to be able to enjoy great American cities.
10:37That's what we're trying to do with the Trump administration.
10:39We want to thank all of our law enforcement and National Guardsmen for making it possible.
10:43We've made a lot of progress in nine days.
10:45We're going to make a whole lot more.
10:46I'll let Pete and Stephen Miller say something, and we'll take a few questions in the report.
10:51So, Mr. Secretary.
10:52Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
10:54I'll just start by saying yes and amen to everything you said.
10:57The American people, the residents of D.C. deserve a safe and beautiful city.
11:01That's our mission.
11:03That's what every one of these captains, lieutenants, staff sergeants, sergeants, specialists, privates,
11:08they're here because they're patriots who serve the country and believe we deserve a beautiful, safe capital.
11:15And when I talk to all of them, Stephen, we've all had a chance to talk to him.
11:18They're proud of this mission.
11:19They're proud to be a part of making sure law and oil is established here and again.
11:24We're resourcing with everything we need for working with our law enforcement government.
11:28So, the National Guard, the Defense Department, is proud to be standing with you on the president
11:33and ensuring we have a safe capital that is beautiful and that residents can come visit.
11:38And we're committed to this mission just like we're on the southern border and in Los Angeles.
11:42Our law enforcement officers deserve to be able to do their jobs safely.
11:46And American citizens, putting American citizens at our country first is something President
11:51Trump has emphasized from the beginning.
11:53So, thank you to these troops.
11:55I know I always liked the cheeseburger when I was in uniform, so hopefully we could deliver
11:59a few of those.
12:00It's honor to be here with you.
12:01And I'll say thank you for the year.
12:03And first of all, thank you to the Vice President for bringing us in today.
12:07Thank you, Senator, for your leadership.
12:09And most importantly, thank you to the men and women of the National Guard.
12:13Here's the most important point.
12:15There are residents who lived in Washington, D.C. their entire lives.
12:20Their parents lived here.
12:21Their grandparents lived here.
12:23And they have lived for generations in intolerable conditions of crime and decay.
12:29There are parts of the city where I lived in the city 20 years ago.
12:33There are places where I've seen graffiti that has been untouched for two decades.
12:38There are homeless encampments that have made it impossible for families to use public parks
12:43and public recreation for as long as I've lived here.
12:46There are hundreds of residents of this city who are shot in street violence every single
12:54year, making it one of the most violent cities on planet Earth.
12:58And for too long, 99% of this city has been terrorized by 1% of this city.
13:06And the voices that you hear out there, those crazy communists, they have no roots.
13:12They have no connections to the city.
13:13They have no families they're raising in this city.
13:15They have no one that they're sending to school in this city.
13:18They have no jobs in this city.
13:19They have no connections to this community at all.
13:22They're the ones who've been advocating for the 1%, the criminals, the killers, the rapists,
13:28the drug dealers.
13:29And I'm glad they're here today because me, Pete, and the Vice President are all going to
13:32leave here.
13:33And inspired by them, we're going to add thousands more resources to this city to get the criminals
13:39and the gang members out of here.
13:40We're going to dismantle those networks.
13:42And we're going to prove that a city can serve for the law-abiding citizens who live there.
13:48We're not going to let the communists destroy a great American city, let alone the nation's
13:54capital.
13:55And let's just also address another thing.
13:57All these demonstrators that you've seen out here in recent days, all of these elderly
14:01white hippies, they're not part of the city and never have been.
14:05And by the way, most of the citizens who live in Washington, D.C. are black.
14:09This is not a city that has had any safety for its black citizens for generations.
14:17And President Trump is the one who is fixing that with the support of the Metropolitan Police
14:22Department, the support of the National Guard, and our federal law enforcement officers.
14:25So we're going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because
14:31they're all over 90 years old.
14:33And we're going to get back from the business of protecting the American people and the citizens
14:36of Washington, D.C.
14:38Thank you, Stephen.
14:39A few questions.
14:40Mr. Vice President, why are troops stationed here at Union Station on the National Mall instead
14:45of areas in D.C. where crime is statistically highest?
14:48Well, if you've ever been to Union Station in the last few years with your family, you
14:52know that crime is actually extremely high right here in Union Station.
14:56You have vagrants, you have drug addicts, you have the chronically homeless, you have
15:00the mentally ill who harass, who threaten violence, who attack families, and they've done it for
15:05far too long.
15:07This should be a monument to American greatness.
15:09This should be a place where you can come and share a meal or go shopping with your family.
15:13It should not be a place where parents of small children are afraid to bring them because
15:18to Stephen's point, we've empowered criminals over the people who actually need public safety
15:24in the city.
15:25So I think Union Station is a great example of what's possible when you actually have
15:29the political willpower to bring law and order and common decency back to the public
15:35spaces of the United States of America.
15:37So many Americans live in cities.
15:39They occupy these spaces.
15:41They know how unsafe they are, and they would love to be able to just live their life in places
15:45like Union Station without violent criminals making it impossible.
15:49We have changed so much in nine days, and I thought it important to highlight how great
15:54of a space this could be, how easy it could be to actually enjoy something like Union Station
15:59if you just had politicians who stopped prioritizing violent criminals over the public citizens who
16:05deserve public safety in their own communities.
16:08And to add to that real quick, we talked to a first responder before we came up here and
16:12said this is their number one call location is Union Station for first responders.
16:17So it's not as if this is insignificant.
16:19In many ways, this is part of the episode.
16:21And we go to that and return it to the safe location that it should be.
16:26It also frees up resources around the city.
16:28And you've seen a majority of arrests happening in a lot of those places that we have.
16:32Will you extend the past 30 days, and do you think you have congressional, will Congress
16:40go longer than it?
16:41Well, look, we'll ultimately let the President of the United States determine where we are
16:44after 30 days of this emergency order.
16:47I think that we're going to make a lot of progress over the next 20 days.
16:50I think that we're nine days into this thing.
16:52But if the President of the United States thinks that he has to extend his order to ensure
16:55that people have access to public safety, then that's exactly what he'll do.
16:59If he thinks he doesn't have to do that, obviously he'll make that determination.
17:02But what we're going to do is try to empower these guys to do as good of a job as possible
17:07to bring public safety in order back to Washington, D.C.
17:10This is the national, cultural, and political capital of the world's greatest nation.
17:16And you talk to people, black, brown, white, so many of them are afraid to bring their kids
17:21into its public spaces.
17:23It's a shame.
17:24It's a blight.
17:25It actually should make every American ashamed that the world's leading superpower, our national
17:31capital, was unsafe for families to walk around at night.
17:35That is a disgrace.
17:37We don't think that it's acceptable.
17:39And thank God we have the presidential leadership to change it, and that's exactly what we're
17:42trying to do.
17:43Were crime statistics manipulated by the D.C. police?
17:46Well, I think the crime statistics all over our country were massively underreported because
17:50a lot of people would pick up the phone, they'd call somebody, they'd try to get help, and
17:54nobody would show up.
17:55If you look at wait times, at 911 response times all across our country, but certainly
18:00in Washington, D.C., they were way too long.
18:02And that wasn't because of the D.C. police.
18:04That was because there was too much crime and too few law enforcement agents on the street
18:09to bring order and decency to this city.
18:12You talk to these guys.
18:13I talked to three police officers earlier.
18:16I talked to the National Guard.
18:18They are so happy that they've been empowered to do their job, which is to make American
18:22streets safe for American citizens.
18:25And I think that empowerment is going to keep on going until we make America, and D.C.
18:29in particular, a safe place again.
18:31What evidence do you have that the D.O.J. has?
18:34Are you going to be releasing it?
18:36I'm sorry?
18:36Are you going to be releasing evidence of this?
18:39Of what?
18:40The D.C. has a terrible crime problem?
18:42You just got to look around.
18:43Obviously, D.C. has a terrible crime problem.
18:45The Department of Justice statistics back it up.
18:48The FBI statistics back it up.
18:49Just talk to a resident of this city, this beautiful, great American city.
18:55Don't they deserve?
18:56We talk about human rights.
18:58We hear these people outside screaming, free D.C.
19:01Let's free D.C. from lawlessness.
19:03Let's free Washington, D.C. from one of the highest murder rates in the entire world.
19:08Let's free Washington, D.C. so that young families can walk around and feel safe and
19:12secure.
19:13That's what we're trying to free D.C. from.
19:15And as Stephen said, it's kind of bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white
19:20people who are out there protesting the policies that keep people safe when they've never felt
19:26danger in their entire lives.
19:27Which cities are next?
19:29Are you going to target any other?
19:30Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
19:32What are your thoughts on the establishment media's criticisms of President Trump's push
19:37to end the Russia-Ukraine war?
19:39Well, I'll let these guys jump in.
19:40I mean, look, on the Russia-Ukraine war, we'll obviously have time to talk about that.
19:44I think the President campaigned on being a President of Peace.
19:46He's already ended six wars.
19:48He's trying to end another.
19:49I think it's kind of disgraceful that the American media is attacking the President for trying
19:54to bring peace to the world.
19:55But most importantly, the President is trying to bring peace to the streets of our own cities.
20:01I really can't overemphasize this enough.
20:04It's the greatest country in the world.
20:06We've got moms and dads and young families.
20:08Shouldn't they be able to enjoy public spaces without vagrants taking away basic public safety
20:15from the American citizenry?
20:16The fact that it's taken so long to bring common decency and law and order back to Washington,
20:22D.C. is an indictment of a generation of failed leadership.
20:25And I hope these guys know how grateful we are that they're doing the job that so many
20:31failed to do.
20:32They're actually keeping the city safe.
20:34We're proud of you.
20:35And we're grateful to you.
20:36Polls show that a majority of D.C. residents don't support the Guard.
20:38What's your message to that?
20:40I'm sorry?
20:41Polls show that a majority of D.C. residents don't support the Guard here.
20:44So what's your message to the majority of D.C. residents?
20:46I'm highly skeptical that a majority of D.C. residents don't want their city to have better
20:51public safety and more reasonable safety standards within Washington, D.C.
20:57I don't know what poll you're talking about.
20:59Maybe the state polls would set Kamala Harris from Little Popular Road by 10 points.
21:03Okay.
21:04We're going to stop there.
21:05We're going to grab a quick bite with some of the soldiers here and the National Guard who
21:09are keeping the city safe.
21:10Again, I just want to say we're grateful to these guys.
21:13You guys are making D.C. safe again.
21:15We're proud of you.
21:16And we're grateful to you.
21:17I'm saying today it needs to be involved in security guarantee.
21:20Thank you, Press.
21:23Thank you, Press.
21:24Thank you, Press.
21:28Thank you, Press.
21:29Press.
21:30And don't come back.
21:32Cool Press.
21:33The only one.
21:34The only one.
21:36The only one.
21:37The only one.
21:42The only one.
21:43The only one.