WATCH: Reporter Thanks Trump For Cracking Down On Crime In Surprising Moment

A member of the White House press pool broke with her colleagues on Monday to publicly thank President Donald Trump for cracking down on Washington, D.C.’s crime epidemic, sharing a harrowing story of her recent brush with a brute in the city’s streets.

Iris Tao, who reports for Epoch Times sister outlet NTD News, held the room’s breath as she described how, two years ago, she was accosted “in broad daylight” by a young man wearing a ski mask.

He “pointed a gun in my face,” Tao said, and ordered her to “hand over my phone, wallet, my laptop, and everything else.”

“When I refused, he used the butt of his handgun to strike me across the face, the cheek — some would say pistol whip — before running away,” she went on, saying the incident “deeply traumatized” her and members of her family.

A camera in the room captured Trump’s concerned look as he listened to Tao’s account of how crime was allowed to run rampant in the nation’s capital during her years reporting as a White House correspondent.

“Ever since, I never dared to walk the streets of DC at night, ever, and my family was extremely worried,” Tao added. “So, Mr. President, thank you so much for what you are doing right now.”

Tao was just 23 when the attack occurred, she explained while expressing her fear about being killed that day.

Trump thanked Tao for sharing her story and reiterated his commitment to keeping Washington under federal authority for the time being.

“These are animals who couldn’t care less,” Trump said. “It’s really amazing that you weren’t shot.”

WATCH:

Tao’s story came during a cabinet meeting where Trump insisted he is “not a dictator” for assuming authority over most of Washington, D.C.’s security apparatus, striking the Home Rule Act that has traditionally allowed the capital city to police its own affairs.

“The line is that I’m a dictator, but I stop crime. So a lot of people say, ‘You know, if that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator,'” Trump said, ABC News reported. “But I’m not a dictator. I just know how to stop crime.”

Trump also expressed his hope that local officials will begin to appreciate the decline in crime thanks to his takeover, and he mused about the possibility of sending National Guard soldiers into Chicago, another urban epicenter of gun violence.

A substantial drop in violent crime has followed Trump’s takeover. The city has gone without a homicide since Aug. 13, and on Sunday, Vice President J.D. Vance noted on “Meet the Press” that D.C. crime has dropped by 35% overall, The Hill reported.