Popular Information: “Since his return to the White House, President Trump has repeatedly claimed that major cities across the United States are overrun with crime. Trump has specifically targeted cities run by Democrats, calling them “unsafe” and “crime-ridden.” “The ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they’re very unsafe places and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” Trump said in a September 2025 speech to military leaders in Virginia. “This is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war too. It’s a war from within.”

• Trump has argued that crime in major cities is so bad that the federal government needs to step in to help reduce crime rates. “I mean, honestly, the crime ridden cities are all Democrat run cities… But if they want help, they can ask for it. And they’re gonna need help,” Trump said to reporters in January 2026. In February, Trump said, “Frankly, if these radical left lunatic Democrats would come and say, please help us, please, we’d stop crimes all over the place.”
• But contrary to Trump’s claims, violent crime was at a historic low when he was inaugurated. According to a report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), in 2026, violent crime has decreased further in cities across the country, including many of the Democratic cities Trump has targeted…”