Food Workers in D.C. Plot to Snub Trump Administration in Acts of “Resistance”

As the Trump administration prepared to take office, the progressive enclave of Washington, D.C., revealed a new front of resistance—right inside its restaurants and bars.

As reported by The New York Post, industry insiders, bartenders, and servers proudly declared their intention to refuse service or subtly inconvenience members of the incoming Republican leadership.

This defiance is framed as a moral stand in a city where liberal ideologies reign supreme.

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“You expect the masses to just ignore RFK eating at Le Diplomate on a Sunday morning after a few mimosas and not to throw a drink in his face?,” asked Zac Hoffman, a seasoned D.C. restaurant professional now managing the National Democratic Club.

Hoffman’s remarks encapsulate the disdain shared by many of his peers, who view small acts of defiance as symbolic victories in a larger ideological battle.

Bartenders and servers interviewed by The Washingtonian made it clear: their actions are personal and political.

Nancy, a fine-dining bartender, explained her strategy for resistance. “This person theoretically has the power to take away your rights, but I have the power to make you wait 20 minutes to get your entrée,” she quipped.

For Nancy, such inconveniences are a way to reclaim a sense of control. She vowed to refuse service to certain officials and threatened to quit on the spot if her employer demanded compliance.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for us as workers to feel like we’re taking our power back, while not necessarily ruining someone’s life. Giving them a subtle inconvenience feels like a little bit of a win for us,” Nancy said. ”

“It’s just little bits of resistance that add up, and little bits of resistance that other people will see and hopefully feel empowered to stand on those convictions as well.”

Suzannah Van Rooy, a Capitol Hill server, echoed similar sentiments, pledging to refuse service to Trump officials whose moral beliefs clashed with her own.

“It’s not, ‘Oh, we hate Republicans.’ It’s that this person has moral convictions that are strongly opposed to mine, and I don’t feel comfortable serving them,” she explained.

For some, these gestures of defiance include more subtle maneuvers. An anonymous host at a fine-dining establishment admitted she plans to research Trump officials to ensure they are seated at undesirable tables.

“I feel like them getting a bad table is nothing compared to the harm they’ll be inflicting,” she stated.

Not all workers in D.C. planned to join this culinary rebellion. Joseph, a bartender, highlighted a silver lining in Trump’s victory: bigger tips.

“I think my tip average from Republicans—at least ones that I or a coworker has recognized—is close to 30 percent. With Dems, I’m surprised if it’s over 20,” he remarked, adding that Republican patrons tend to be easier to serve.

The uproar over these comments recalls incidents during Trump’s first term, when Republican officials faced public harassment.

In 2018, then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled at a D.C. Mexican eatery. That same year, Senator Ted Cruz and his wife were forced out of a D.C. restaurant by leftist protesters.

These clashes were encouraged by Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters, who called for supporters to confront Trump officials in public. Her infamous remarks urging harassment of administration figures served as a rallying cry for left-wing activists.

While some workers frame their acts of defiance as noble resistance, others see it as a stark reminder of how politicized even dining has become in the nation’s capital. For conservatives, it underscores the hostility and double standards perpetuated by the left’s so-called “tolerant” culture.