Donald Trump’s first public dinner in D.C. since returning to the presidency was supposed to be a show of strength. Instead, it became a flashpoint—and a full-blown MAGA meltdown over what loyalists are calling a humiliating and dangerous failure by the U.S. Secret Service.
On Tuesday night, Trump and senior Cabinet officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth, sat down for dinner at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, just blocks from the White House. The president was there to send a message: D.C. is under control thanks to his deployment of National Guard troops from eight Republican-led states.
But that message was quickly drowned out when members of Code Pink, the left-wing anti-war group, got within shouting distance of the president and erupted into protest.
“Free D.C! Free Palestine!” they yelled. “Trump is the Hitler of our time!”
The protesters were seated just feet away. They weren’t rushing the table or storming in from the street—they had a reservation. And now, MAGA-world wants heads to roll.
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna lit into the Secret Service, demanding to know how the group got so close—and whether someone inside the agency tipped them off.
“How are they allowed that close to him? Where was Secret Service and was there someone in Secret Service that leaked his location? This needs to be looked into,” she posted on X.
Did someone leak the President’s location to the organization that showed up to protest him? Was this code pink? How are they allowed that close to him?
Where was Secret Service and was there someone in Secret Service that leaked his location? This needs to be looked into. pic.twitter.com/kLvmOCOZ2P
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) September 10, 2025
Luna wasn’t the only one rattled. Conservative podcaster Graham Allen demanded to know: “How did Code Pink get so close to our president? How did Code Pink know he would be there? This was NOT a public event. Why were they able to SHOUT and YELL at the president for so long?!?”
Far-right activist Laura Loomer took it a step further, accusing the Secret Service of potential sabotage.
“Someone at Secret Service needs to be fired for this one. Is there a HAMAS sympathizer working at the U.S. Secret Service? Who let those rabid HAMAS lovers inside while Trump was in the restaurant? We need to find out and expose them,” she wrote, adding: “This is unacceptable. POTUS could have been assassinated tonight. They could have stabbed him or shot him.”
For Trump supporters, the incident is all the more enraging because it took place just one day before his emergency control over D.C.’s local police was set to expire. The 30-day federal order lapses at midnight Wednesday. The National Guard troops will remain on the ground for now, but it’s unclear how long that control will last.
As for how Code Pink pulled it off—it wasn’t exactly Ocean’s Eleven. Olivia DiNucci, a D.C. organizer for the group, told The Daily Beast it was as simple as booking a table.
“We actually had a reservation, and got it pretty last-minute, and went in,” she said. “We thought it was just going to be Trump, we didn’t know that it was all of his Cabinet, and we didn’t think they would be in such an open room—we thought he’d be in a different area—and we were placed really close to them.”
That proximity has infuriated Trump’s allies, especially given the Secret Service’s checkered recent history. In July 2024, Trump was “grazed” by a bullet during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a rooftop gunman opened fire. One rallygoer was killed. The agency faced intense backlash at the time—and the scars from that near-assassination haven’t faded.
The Secret Service has so far declined to comment on the Joe’s Seafood incident. The White House has stayed silent, too.
But MAGA influencers aren’t waiting for answers. Many are convinced there was a leak—or worse, a plant—inside the president’s protective detail. Some want a full investigation. Others want firings. All of them want accountability.
This wasn’t just a protest, they say. It was an embarrassment. And, in their view, it could have been deadly.
