Violent crime in D.C. has been steadily decreasing since before Trump’s second term.
Federal law enforcement officers were dispatched to tourist hotspots in Washington, D.C., on Friday as part of President Donald Trump’s escalating crack down on violent crime in the district, which he’s pursuing even as crime rates in the nation’s capital continue to fall.
Trump threatened this week to federalize the “very unsafe” capital after ex-DOGE staffer “Big Balls” was violently assaulted by a group of teenagers in a carjacking attempt. Although Trump has cited a number of high-profile crimes in recent months to justify a federal takeover D.C., violent crime in D.C. has been steadily decreasing since before Trump’s second term, according to the Metropolitan Police Department year-to-date crime comparison.
The White House has attributed the decreasing crime rate to Trump’s “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” executive order, which was passed earlier this year and created a federal task force to deploy “a more robust Federal law enforcement presence” and “maximize immigration enforcement” in D.C. But there may be other factors at play.
A senior police officer told the Washington Post that crime rates have declined “because of the hard work and dedication of MPD,” which has “little to do with recent federal law enforcement action.”
Violent crime rates in cities have also been decreasing in general, a downward trend that began in 2022. Crime rates fell nationwide in 2024 according to FBI data, with a 4.5 percent decrease in violent crime. Homicides also dropped nearly 15 percent in 2024, and fell 17 percent in the first half of 2025.
Trump has unduly credited his administration with decreasing crime rates before. In June, he said during a meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police that “we’ve removed thousands of violent criminal, illegal aliens from our communities… and just a few months into office, the national murder rate has plummeted by 28 percent.” The national murder rate began to decline in 2023 during Joe Biden’s presidency, after spiking in 2021.
Homicide rates in D.C. increased from 2017-21, before dropping sharply in 2022, and spiking again in 2023. The number of homicides in D.C. per year has been decreasing since 2023 — from 274 homicides in 2023, to 187 in 2024.
By August of 2024, the city had recorded 112 homicides. As of August 8, 2025, the city had recorded 99 homicides, continuing the downward trend.
Trump’s threats to federalize D.C. nevertheless focus on what the president portrays as a “totally out of control” violent crime epidemic.
“Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” Trump said on Truth Social this week, after the ex-DOGE staffer Edward Coristine was assaulted. “They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now! The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” Trump added.
In D.C., homicides are down 12 percent from this time last year, assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20 percent, and robberies are down 28 percent. There’s also been a 4 percent total decrease in property crime from this time last year, including decreases in burglary and theft.
Nonviolent arrests have increased since Trump passed his executive order. The U.S. Park Police saw a 37 percent increase in arrests in the first half of 2025, an official told the Washington Post, and Metro Transit Police arrests were up 33 percent. The task force has engaged multiple law enforcement agencies in order to facilitate crime prosecutions, arrests of illegal immigrants in D.C., the clearing out of homeless encampments, and more.