President Donald Trump has teased a news conference on Monday that, in his words, “will stop violent crime in Washington, DC.”
President Donald Trump has teased a news conference on Monday that, in his words, “will stop violent crime in Washington, D.C.”
It comes as the Trump administration continues a weeklong effort to bolster a federal law enforcement presence in the city.
Many extra federal police personnel have been deployed across the city in high traffic areas and places where tourists visit.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump said D.C. has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
But federal and local government data dispute that.
Violent crime rates in the District dropped 35% from 2023 to 2024, marking the lowest rates recorded in more than 30 years, according to a January report by the Justice Department.
According to data released this month by D.C. police, violent crime rates have continued to fall this year, with violent crime down 26% year-over-year.
Police said homicide rates have dropped 12% on the year so far, sex abuse by 49%, assault with a dangerous weapon by 20% and robbery by 28%. Property crime rates have also fallen, including burglary (19%), theft from vehicles (4%) and other theft crimes (6%).
But that hasn’t stopped Trump from portraying the nation’s capital as among the most dangerous cities in the world.
“What a shame,” Trump said during a news conference last week. “The rate of muggings, killings an everything else,” he said. “We’re not going to let it, and that includes bringing in the national guard, maybe very quickly.”
“What the president was saying is we’re seeing far too much crime being committed by young people,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said last week, referring to several high profile incidents in which young people have gathered in groups and engaged in fights and other crimes. The District imposed curfews to address that issue.
Some have speculated that Trump will, during his Monday news conference, continue down the road toward a federal takeover of D.C., potentially announcing the federalization of D.C. police.
Mayor Bowser says D.C. ‘not experiencing a crime spike’
During an interview on MSNBC Sunday, Bowser said she has talked to Trump about D.C. crime in the past, and that the District is not experiencing a spike in criminal behavior at the moment.
“I talked to him several weeks ago when we were in the Oval Office, and I’ve talked to him about crime repeatedly, including in my first meeting with him after he was elected,” Bowser said. “So the president is very aware of our efforts.”
She said D.C. police supports Trump’s recent task force by supplying officials with information ” and anything else they ask us for.”
When it comes to Monday’s announcement, Bowser said she believes it’s about an increase in federal officers.
“I suspect that his announcement, is that he is surging federal law enforcement, which he’s talked about, and he may talk about even larger numbers or longer periods of time,” Bowser said.
“He’s interested in being in neighborhoods and fighting crime in neighborhoods, and to the extent that officers know our laws, that officers work in community and work with prosecutors to build good cases and establish a presence and work with local officials who are, you know, the expert in policing and making arrests — that’s what we’re waiting to see.”
She said as far as Trump’s claims go about an increase in D.C. crime, those statements are not true.
“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 working with the federal government,” Bowser said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
