Restaurant and bar owners across the Washington, D.C. area reported a significant drop in revenue after President Donald Trump federalized the local police force and deployed military troops.
On Sunday, a WUSA analysis of data from OpenTable found that restaurant reservations had dropped by more than 25%.
Trump first announced his plan to crack down on crime in D.C. on Monday. Reservations that day fell by 16% compared to 2024. By Wednesday, reservations were 31% below 2024 levels.
Before the president federalized D.C. law enforcement, the area had enjoyed 11 consecutive months of improvements in reservations.
The Advocate described the crackdown as "an economic and cultural crisis" after speaking to LGBTQ+ bar owners.
Bar owner Dave Perruzza said that Friday night felt "like a desert."
"Thursdays are all local, but Fridays and Saturdays we get people from out of town, and we just had none of them. It was awful," he explained.
Perruzza said he had lost $7,000 in a single night.
"That's not sustainable," he insisted.
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