President Donald Trump on Monday questioned whether minor domestic disputes should be included in crime statistics as he touted what he called dramatically reduced crime in Washington, D.C.
Speaking at the Museum of the Bible to the Religious Liberty Commission in a speech broadcast live, Trump said opponents were inflating crime figures and that the district had become "virtually" free of crime since he ordered a federal takeover. "They said crime's down 87%. I said, 'No, no, no, it's more than 87%. Virtually nothing,'" he said. He added, "Much lesser things, things that take place in the home, they call crime. You know, they'll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, 'This was a crime, see?' So now I can't claim 100%."
Trump asserted that the city is safe and that people were dining out more than ever since the federal intervention. "We are a safe city," he said. "You can walk to a restaurant. You can walk to the White House if you work there. You can walk to the Capitol." He has repeatedly pointed to a National Guard deployment he ordered last month as evidence of a crackdown that has reduced violence.
The deployment of federal troops to patrol parts of Washington followed a contentious decision by the administration and has been part of broader threats by Trump to send the Guard to cities governed by officials he has described as his political opponents. Officials and media reports have flagged Chicago and Baltimore as possible next deployments; the president has not announced a final decision on those cities. He also claimed without presenting evidence that a National Guard deployment to Los Angeles earlier in the summer had "saved" the city, though the troops' activities there were limited and a federal judge later found that deployment illegal.
Public and local accounts present a more complex picture than the president's assertions. While violent crime in Washington has declined from some recent peaks, it has not disappeared. Reporters and residents have described militarized streets and an atmosphere that has led many to avoid areas with a heavy security presence, and some restaurant owners and patrons have reported reduced foot traffic in neighborhoods near guarded zones.
Trump's remarks at the Museum of the Bible were part of a continuing public campaign to frame federal troop deployments and other interventions as successful in reducing urban crime. Officials in jurisdictions targeted for possible deployments have resisted federal intervention, citing legal and public-safety concerns, and at least one court has ruled against the legality of a past deployment.
The president spoke to an audience of faith and conservative leaders and delivered his comments as debate continues over the appropriate role of federal forces in local law enforcement and how crime statistics should be measured and presented.