A man who was part of a group that reportedly attended Robert Trump’s White House funeral is said to have punched a Fig & Olive server in the nose on Friday night, after the CityCenterDC restaurant was unable to accommodate his large party. NBC White House correspondent Geoff Bennett first reported the news. DC police say they have not yet made any arrests in the incident and the case remains under investigation.
NEWS: I got a tip that someone in town for Robert Trump's White House funeral punched a server tonight at D.C.'s Fig & Olive restaurant. I called and an employee there confirmed it: "Somebody blindsided one of my servers. Clocked him right in the nose."
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) August 22, 2020
According to a police report, a group of about 20 people entered Fig & Olive around 8:45 PM. When the restaurant declined to seat them because of Covid-19 restrictions (only six people are allowed at a single table), one man “became irate” and struck the employee in the nose with a closed fist.
Bennett says an employee of the restaurant told him: “My server’s nose is crooked. Pretty sure the guy broke it. They didn’t apologize. Just said, ‘You don’t know how to speak to people.'”
Some in the group were still carrying funeral programs, Bennett reported, but no “high-profile” Trump was involved. A spokesperson for Fig & Olive tells Washingtonian the group had attended a funeral that day, but they would neither confirm nor deny that the party were guests of the Trump funeral. A private service for the President’s brother took place earlier that evening less than a mile away.
“Since reopening from the temporary dine-in closures due to Covid-19 restrictions, our Fig & Olive DC team has worked incredibly hard to rebuild and we have faced many challenges during the reopening period,” the spokesperson says in a statement. “It is incredibly unfair our team had to deal with what occurred last night, and we will make sure the necessary steps are taken to address this.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
