In a grand proclamation marking Trump’s first 100 days, then-designated U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, issued a flowery press release falsely assigning credit to the new administration for a “significant decline in violent crime.” Martin even took time to congratulate himself on his work preparing for (their version of) the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Thanks to the leadership of Trump and the efforts of our ‘Make D.C. Safe Again’ initiative, the District has seen a significant decline in violent crime. We are proving that strong enforcement and smart policies can make our communities safer. When Trump chose me to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, he could have picked anybody, but he picked me, because he knew I am committed to preparing the nation’s capital for America 250, when we welcome the rest of the country and the rest of the world to celebrate America’s founding.
via then-designated D.C. attorney Ed Martin
Martin’s claims do not withstand even mild scrutiny, most notably because violent crime in our nation’s capitol was already on a dramatic, downward trend long before Trump retook the office he currently occupies. On January 3 2025, U.S. attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves announced that the crime rate there was lowest in “over 30 years.”
Total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years, according to data collected by the Metropolitan Police Department. In addition to the overall violent crime reduction, homicides are down 32%; robberies are down 39%; armed carjackings are down 53%; assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 27% when compared with 2023 levels, with the District reporting the fewest assaults with dangerous weapons and burglaries in over 30 years.
Matthew Graves for U.S. Attorney/D.C. under President Biden
Much like Trump claiming credit for Biden-era infrastructure projects he lobbied against, the lower crime rate in D.C. cannot, in any legitimate way, be attributed to “work” the current administration is doing.
Since Martin’s proclamation, Trump withdrew his nomination for the D.C. attorney position—filled instead by Fox News personality Jeannine Pirro. Martin was also a reliable mouthpiece for “Stop the Steal” in 2020 and made regular appearances on Kremlin-controlled propaganda channels.
AUTHOR COMMENT
Wishing unicorns were real is not the same as spotting actual unicorns floating above your head.
In other words, crime in D.C. fell—according to media reports and research—because of improved policing, demographic shifts and national trends in crimes of all types going down. Declarations from Donny’s objectively chaotic, yutz-filled “administration” that they are responsible for something that was already happening is the stuff of fairy tales.
I was keen to get this entry up as it is important for Earth 1 to hold and memorialize every last bastion of truths and facts, even though Donald’s mob cares about neither. For this reason (and others), Trump blew up the White House Press Corps to suit his alt reality; questions asked by MAGA-fluffy outlets like Newsmax, Breitbart and Daily Wire (Ginni Thomas’ favorite) only means nobody really challenges his mafia’s “Unicorn Reality” as articulated by Karoline Leavitt. (I know, “articulating” doing a lot of heavy lifting.)
Lies and gaslighting going unchallenged by the press means Trump feels fine invading a largely peaceful city and causing mayhem with a violent occupation (that will be a separate TrumpFile entry).
Community policing works. Donald’s attempts to gaslight America will not.
