Introduction
‘The president is exaggerating again,’ says reporter Daniel Dale after Trump’s raft of unfounded claims about crime in the nation’s capital. A CNN fact-checker shredded a deluge of Donald Trump’s false claims about crime in Washington, D.C.
Trump’s Claims and the Fact-Check
During Trump’s second Oval Office press conference on Monday, August 25, 2025, the president defended his deployment of the National Guard and takeover of the police force in the nation’s capital, touting an 11-day murder-free period. Despite polling showing how unpopular Trump’s moves are in D.C., the president continued to claim that, under his watch, the city has transformed from “the most dangerous place in the world” to the “safest place” in under two weeks. Towards the end of Trump’s White House meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday, CNN News Central brought in senior reporter Daniel Dale to fact-check the U.S. commander-in-chief’s claims.
Murder-Free Streak Claim
Asked whether Trump’s claim about D.C.’s first murder-free week in “many years,” Dale responded that “it is not accurate,” citing other similar stretches this year in the district. “There has currently been the 11-day stretch without a reported homicide, but that also happened earlier this year,” he said. In February and March, there was a 16-day stretch with no reported homicides in the district. So the president is exaggerating again.”
Crime at All-Time High Claim
Dale also pointed to another claim that was “not even close to true”: that the capital’s crime was at an all-time high when he took office. While D.C.’s murder rate two years ago hit levels not seen since the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, the period since has seen a steep decline under the leadership of Chief Pamela Smith, who was named to her role in 2023. Statistics made public by the D.C. government and the Department of Justice show that other violent crimes have also declined during the same period. Crime figures from the Metropolitan Police Department for the District of Columbia state that violent offenses fell last year to their lowest level in 30 years and have continued to decline in 2025, according to preliminary data for the first half of the year.
National Guard Deployment in Republican Strongholds
Dale also dug into Trump’s pledge to deploy National Guard troops into Republican strongholds, before adding, “but there aren’t that many of them.” “If you look at the top 25 cities for crime, just about every one of those cities is run by Democrats,” Trump told reporters. Dale quickly shut down Trump’s claims, arguing that “many” Republican-led cities face high crime rates. “There are indeed a bunch of cities in red states that are high on national crime rate lists, however you slice the data,” Dale said. “Just looking at the facts, cities like Memphis, Tennessee; Cleveland, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Houston, Texas, all among the 10 or 15 cities with the highest violent crime rates, all in red states with Republican governors.” “So, who’s to blame for that?,” he asked.
Conclusion
CNN’s Daniel Dale effectively debunked several of Trump’s claims about Washington, D.C.’s crime rates, including the exaggerated assertion of an unprecedented murder-free streak and the false claim that crime was at an all-time high when Trump took office. Official data from the D.C. government and the Department of Justice confirm a significant decline in violent crime, contradicting Trump’s narrative. Additionally, Dale challenged Trump’s attempt to tie high crime rates solely to Democrat-led cities, highlighting that several Republican-led cities also rank high in violent crime statistics.
