Stop Gaslighting America: D.C. Has a Crime Problem and Trump’s Not Afraid to Say It

President Trump is doing exactly what needs to be done when it comes to the crime crisis in our nation’s capital: issuing a clear warning: fix it, or I will.

For too long, D.C. has been allowed to spiral into what feels like the carjacking and murder capital of the country. This isn’t political spin, it’s reality. Metropolitan Police Department data shows homicides in D.C. jumped 35% from 2022 to 2023, reaching the highest number in over 20 years. Carjackings more than doubled between 2019 and 2023, and nearly 70% of those arrested for carjackings last year were juveniles. That’s not “business as usual.” That’s a city in crisis.

We’ve reached the point where drug-addicted homeless people are taking over train stations, tourists are afraid to walk outside the Capitol or the White House, and CVS has to lock up toothbrushes because petty theft is so rampant. Residents shouldn’t have to worry about getting robbed after a Nationals game. Parents shouldn’t have to look over their shoulders walking their kids past Union Station.

The liberal backlash to Trump’s plan has been predictable: if you talk about crime in D.C., you must hate D.C. That’s insulting to the city itself. Pretending the problem doesn’t exist doesn’t make you a “loyal” Washingtonian; it sets embarrassingly low standards for the place we should all be proud of.

I love D.C. I moved here because I loved it. I’ve stayed because I love it. But loving this city means refusing to accept its decay. It means not shrugging off the fact that police are stretched thin, prosecutions are down, and criminals feel emboldened.

President Trump understands something D.C.’s current leadership doesn’t: when a city is in decline, you don’t politely ask it to get better. You lead. That’s what this warning is about. The stakes are too high to wait around for more broken promises. It’s time to make D.C. safe, clean, and worthy of its role as the capital of the free world. And if local leaders won’t do it, Trump will.