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Are Trump's Claims About 'Dangerous' Washington, DC Backed By Data? [1]

['Kate Plummer', 'Newsweek Contributors', 'Robert Weissman', 'Lisa Gilbert']

Date: 2025-08-11 09:29:51-04:00

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.

President Donald Trump has painted Washington, D.C. as a city spiraling into lawlessness, but a Newsweek analysis of multiple data sources tell a more nuanced story.

Newsweek contacted the White House by email to comment on this story.

Why It Matters

Trump has, as of late, made a number of comments about the crime rate in the Washington and has suggested the district could be federalized as a response.

On Thursday, he directed an "increased presence" of federal law enforcement officials in Washington in the wake of an attack on a former government official and as part of an executive order in March to "Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful."

On Monday he is to hold a press conference to discuss crime in the city, after asserting that Washington had "become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World."

President Donald Trump speaks to journalists as he greets Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House Aug. 8, 2025. President Donald Trump speaks to journalists as he greets Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House Aug. 8, 2025. Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

What To Know

According to a January press release from the district's U.S. Attorney Office, using police data, violent crime for 2024 hit a 30-year low while other crimes including homicides, robberies, armed carjackings and assaults with a dangerous weapon also fell.

Meanwhile, according to Washington Metropolitan Police data, violent crime is down 26 percent this year, compared with the same period last year.

This includes a 12 percent dip in homicides, a 28 percent decrease in robbery and a 20 percent drop in assault with dangerous weapons. Carjackings are down 37 percent this year, according to the police data.

The FBI also released data in August which showed the total number of assaults, homicides, kidnappings, abductions and sex offenses fell in the capital from 23,914 in 2023 to 22,320 in 2024.

In Washington, the total number of crimes against persons was 22,320 in 2024, with the majority of those crimes (21,437) made up of assault offenses, according to the FBI report.

Sex offenses (655) were the second most common crime against persons in the district, followed by homicide offenses (179), and then kidnapping offenses (49).

But the data showed that the district appears to have a higher rate of crime against persons, compared to the most populated states like California, New York and Texas.

Meanwhile, Washington's homicide rate last year was 27.3 per 100,000 people, according to the Center for Public Safety Initiatives at Rochester Institute of Technology. This is far lower than the ten most dangerous cities in the world according to that metric.

This is part of a pattern of falling homicide rates nationwide. According to The Washington Post, which analyzed data from 100 police departments in large U.S. cities, homicides are down overall by more than 30 percent.

However, Washington ranks 69th in a WordAtlas list of the 100 most dangerous cities in the world based on overall crime. But this list also found other major U.S. cities have more crime than Washington, including Detroit in Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. WorldAtlas did not share the methodology behind its ranking system, but said it was based on data from Numbeo, a crowd-sourced online database that collects and shares data about the cost of living, housing prices, healthcare, crime rates, pollution, quality of life, and other metrics for cities and countries around the world.

What People Are Saying

Writing on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said: "On Monday a Press Conference will be held at the White House which will, essentially, stop violent crime in Washington, D.C. It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World. It will soon be one of the safest!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT."

In another post he wrote: "I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World. It will soon be that again."

Jeanine Pirro U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, targeted youth crime on Thursday, telling reporters: "We're seeing far too much crime being committed by young people—14, 15, 16, 17 years old—that I can't get my hands on...I don't know if you've seen some of these pictures. But young people are coddled, and they don't need to be coddled anymore. They need to be held accountable...They need to understand that enough is enough."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last week: "Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long. President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. There will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C. President Trump is committed to making our Nation's capital safer for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world."

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told MSNBC: "It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023, this is 2025 and we've done that by working with the community, working with the police, working with our prosecutors, and, in fact, working with the federal government."

What Happens Next

Trump's press conference will reveal the president's crime plans for the city in more detail.

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[1] Url: https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-washington-dc-crime-data-2111635

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