Entrepreneurs in Washington, DC Chinatown, spoke frankly about the presence of the National Guards, with a number of welcome from the extra security and others who say that the troops have deterred customers and harm the sale. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy)
A business owner of Washington, DC from the Chinatown area said that despite the improved safety in the capital of the country in the midst of the federal action of President Donald Trump against crime, the move “great time” damages his sale.
One of those business owners, an owner of a local liquor store who identified as John, said that the federal acquisition in DC led to reduced foot traffic, which in turn causes a big blow to his sale.
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“In a sense it is good because it is safer, but it kills my company. There is no one in the neighborhood and people are scared, they don’t want to bother, so they stay at home,” John said. “It hurts my company a lot.”
According to John, the new presence of the federal police has resulted in a decrease of approximately 30-40% in the turnover of his store.
John added that either the increased presence of the police is there or not, it doesn’t make much difference to him, because he had not dealt with too many incidents prior to the federal takeover of Trump.
However, a second business owner named Philip said that the presence of the federal police has not been very noticeable. He also said that although the crime was nothing that they could not manage before the federal takeover of Trump, he feared what it could change if nothing was done.
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Chinatown Gateway Arch, in Washington, DC (Raymond Boyd / Getty Images / Getty images)
In the meantime, other local employees and one street vendor in DC expressed a strong feature about the relocation of Trump to clamp on crime with the help of federal support from the law enforcement.
“I would say it’s superfluous. I think our troops have better things to take care of. I feel that many of the troops here might even have the feeling that they should not be here,” said an employee who works in DC, Malik named Malik. “I think it is invasive and too bad,” he continued. “I don’t think it’s necessary to stop the criminals with the army. I feel that there are other departments to take care of it.”
Members of the National Guard are at Union Station on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch / Getty images / getty images)
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“We don’t need them. DC is not under a state of emergency of any kind. To be honest, if you know something about DC, we really keep ours, we really take care of ours here,” said a street seller called ALE too. “All extra national guard and so on, it causes confusion because their training is not to deal with the regular audience.”
Ale also commented on the noticeable decrease in foot traffic in DC, and said that the presence of the police disrupted the peace in the city.
“It’s just no longer peaceful. People usually, like now, there is usually more traffic, more foot traffic. Companies – as I am pretty sure that other companies will come into force. I am pretty sure that their number is no longer,” said Ale. “It is just not necessary, nobody is comfortable. Nobody is comfortable now. It takes a great toll … because, like I said, people just don’t come out and enjoy their time at these moments at the moment.”
