Main cities led by Black mayors and with vital Black and Latino populations continued to see declines in violent crime regardless of President Donald Trump characterizing them as “hellholes” and “slums.”
In Baltimore, the place President Trump threatened to ship army troops, as he did in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and different cities, there have been historic reductions in violent crimes in 2025.
In accordance with information from the Metropolis of Baltimore, the “Appeal Metropolis” recorded 133 homicides final yr, which is the fewest in almost 50 years. This marks the third consecutive yr that homicides have decreased by double digits.
Baltimore additionally noticed the most important year-over-year share lower in homicides ever recorded, with homicides dropping by 31%. The variety of non-fatal shootings declined from 423 in 2024 to 311 in 2025, a 24.5% decline.
“5 years in the past, earlier than our complete technique to handle gun violence, we have been shedding 300 individuals to murder yearly,” stated Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. “Because of this technique, and the entire people throughout our neighborhood violence intervention ecosystem, we’ve got lowered that quantity by almost 60%. Collectively, we’re serving to people put down the weapons and alter their lives, supporting job applications and apprenticeships, and investing in our communities by constructing colleges, rec facilities, libraries, swimming pools, and playgrounds.”
In August 2025, Trump railed in opposition to Baltimore as a “hellhole” after Maryland Governor Wes Moore invited him to go to the historic majority-Black metropolis for a tour to study the way it has continued to scale back crime after a long time of excessive charges of homicides and different violent crimes.
Trump, who minimize federal funding for neighborhood violence intervention applications, has repeatedly dismissed information cited by Black mayors who say their public security insurance policies and investments have resulted in vital crime reductions. On Aug. 11, 2025, Trump declared a federal crime emergency in D.C. and deployed the U.S. Nationwide Guard, regardless of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and different officers noting that crime had been steadily dropping because the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump did the identical in Los Angeles, which noticed its most secure yr since 1959, in response to protests over his immigration raids. Although the White Home claimed the California metropolis was “on fireplace” on account of unrest, Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass insisted town had issues beneath management.
Trump additionally deployed troops in Chicago, the place Mayor Brandon Johnson had touted a 30% discount in homicides and a 40% discount in shootings.
On Monday, the Chicago Police Division introduced that town skilled its lowest stage of homicides in six a long time in 2025. Equally, D.C. noticed its second consecutive yr of lowered violent crime. Total, violent crime dropped 29% in 2025, together with a ten% drop in assaults with a harmful weapon, a 37% drop in robberies, and a 29% drop in intercourse abuse.
On New Yr’s Eve, Trump introduced that the administration was withdrawing the Nationwide Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland. He falsely claimed that the crime reductions in these cities have been solely a results of his army appointment.
“Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago have been GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Authorities stepping in. We’ll come again, maybe in a a lot totally different and stronger type, when crime begins to soar once more – Solely a query of time!” he wrote on Reality Social.
