On January 9, 2023, the Washington Post reported that officials announced they were cleaning up Union Station, a landmark railroad terminal in the nation’s capital.
Jeffrey Stark of Arlington panned the plan, “If Union Station officials are serious about creating a desirable destination, they need to address homelessness and panhandlers.
“On Jan. 2, I spent half an hour in the station waiting for a train. In that time, I witnessed people sleeping on benches in the waiting area, reducing seating space for actual patrons. I endured the stench of urine in the waiting area. I observed how the cleaning crews couldn’t keep up with the messes the homeless left in the restrooms. I was approached by a panhandler while I waited for my traveling companion at a concession stand.
“These experiences reminded me why I avoid Union Station whenever possible, and why I minimize my time there when avoidance isn’t an option. Until the place is no longer a de facto homeless shelter, this will continue to be my policy. A new coat of paint in the main hall is lipstick on the proverbial pig. It won’t entice me to visit.”
Barbara Kraft of Washington wrote, “It might be newsworthy that Union Station will get new retail [vendors], but the real news is that a national and local treasure, essential to so many, was allowed to fall into disrepair and no one has been held to account. Where have the Union Station Redevelopment Corp., Congress, the National Park Service, the New York management company and other elected and appointed public officials been? Where is the information about USRC’s structure, role and finances that would explain the station’s abysmal condition?”
The project failed. The restrooms were still a mess. Panhandlers and drug addicts still filled the place. Tourists and other travelers were not welcome. Vendors left.
Enter The Donald. The man who cleaned up Midtown Manhattan with the transformation of the Commodore Hotel—a roach motel with XXX bookstores—into the Hyatt Regency (now Hyatt Grand Central New York) was back from a four-year vacation. I am sure you have seen the holiday photo of his visit to the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.
[INSERT MUG SHOT HERE.]
Trump is very familiar with DC architecture having taken on the decades-long attempt to transform the Old Post Office into a luxury hotel. He did so in two years, ahead of schedule and under budget. That’s the Trump Way.
To bring Union Station back, Trump cut through the clutter of the Union Station Redevelopment Corp., Congress and the National Park Service—and got the job done using park service personnel to work—much like he is getting the reflecting pool at the National Mall de-Obamanized.
President Trump launched Operation D.C. Safe and Beautiful last summer to crackdown on crime and beautify the city ahead of our 250th birthday on July 4th. Federal agencies worked with various National Guard units (including West Virginia’s 863rd MP Company and 167th Airlift Wing) to clean up Washington.
Violent crime fell 29% comparing 2025 numbers to 2024 as criminals scurried like cockroaches once the refrigerator light of the operation hit them.
Carjackings are down 83%.
However, Congress has questioned the reliability of Metropolitan Police Department under former Police Chief Pamela Smith. Crimes were downgraded, misreported and suspected of not being recorded. She resigned suddenly last December to, um, spend more time with her family. Yes, that is exactly what she said.
One Hundred Twenty-Three years ago, the land the B&O and Pennsylvania Railroad built Union Station on was a swamp. Congress let Teddy Roosevelt sell the land to them and the two companies spent five years and $16 million building it. Four years later, they added the Columbus Circle fountain and plaza, which made the Washington Terminal (its official name) a gem.
But 70 years later, when passenger trains went almost the way of passenger pigeons, the terminal looked terminally ill. On February 23, 1981, the National Park Service closed the building to the public after a leaking roof caused part of the ceiling to collapse in the main waiting room.
Enter The Ronald. He got Congress to put up $160 million to buy and renovate the station. This was a much bigger project than this year’s cleanup.
Seven years later, the station reopened as a vibrant festival marketplace with shops, restaurants, and restored Beaux-Arts grandeur—the version most people today remember as the good old days.
Nearly 40 years later, the place needed a cleaning up. The fountain at Columbus Circle stopped running in 2007.
But the problem went deeper than graffiti and crime. The station needed permanent change to make it friendly to the public. The Trump administration got the job done and re-opened the renovated Columbus Circle fountain at Union Station on Thursday.
Three years ago, Jeffrey Stark of Arlington said Union Station officials had to address the homeless situation. Trump did. The president also is cleaning up other places including the aforementioned mall pool. He also has dropped crime considerably.
For the first time in decades, Washington should be safe and clean enough to visit—just in time for the 250th celebration of independence.
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This article first appeared on Don Surber’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission.
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