The Washington Post appeared to ignore a steep drop in crime while analyzing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on Washington, D.C. crime in a Tuesday article.
After Trump deployed the National Guard to the nation’s capital in August, D.C. did not report a homicide for nearly two weeks, and the frequency of its other violent crimes was markedly down from previous levels. The Washington Post in a report illustrating a “timeline” of the president’s crackdown instead seemed to focus on multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration while also cherry-picking incidents involving federal agents.
In one case, the Post highlighted an assault on federal agents by a then-Department of Justice (DOJ) employee. In another, it claimed federal agents were arresting delivery drivers without appearing to provide context.
Trump announced a federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to combat crime in the District of Columbia on Aug. 11. In the two weeks after the order, carjackings were down 96% from the same time period in 2024, while robberies dropped 68% and homicides were down 67%.
After initially criticizing Trump’s actions, Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., signed an order Sept. 2 directing local law enforcement to work with federal agencies. The Post noted that Bowser has acknowledged the crackdown was reducing crime, but the article did not provide statistics.
Crime in D.C. became a hot-button issue after several high-profile crimes, including the murder of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, who was fatally shot on June 30 and an attack in which two employees of the Israeli Embassy were killed in May.
Days before Trump announced his crackdown, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the online alias “Big Balls,” was severely injured when he intervened to stop a mob from carrying out a carjacking. Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her D.C. apartment in February 2023.
In a fact sheet released Aug. 11, the White House detailed how much crime took place in the nation’s capital.
“There were 29,348 crimes reported in Washington, D.C. last year, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts,” the fact sheet stated, while also noting that D.C. had the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country.
Despite claims from Democrats that violent crime in the nation’s capital has declined by roughly one-third, MPD data on such incidents reportedly excludes cases of aggravated assault and felony assault, even though D.C. laws characterize those offenses as violent. A high-ranking MPD official, Michael Pulliam, was suspended over allegations regarding the manipulation of crime data, NBC Washington reported. The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the allegations that the numbers were falsely reported.
Since Trump launched the crackdown in the nation’s capital, 2,177 arrests have been made and 222 guns have been seized, according to a Tuesday post on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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