DC homicides cut in half as Trump credits federal crackdown effort
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The number of homicides in Washington, D.C., has fallen sharply this year, falling by about half compared to the same period in 2025, as the Trump administration points to an aggressive federal crackdown on the nation’s capital.
The administration said the decline was caused by the appointment of U.S. Attorney General Jeanine Pirro, an increase in federal agents and the deployment of National Guard troops. But criminologists say similar declines are being seen across the country and warn that it’s difficult to pin the improvement on a single policy, opening up a debate about what’s really behind the change.
Along with Pirro’s tough enforcement stance and increased visible law enforcement presence, there have been 20 murders at this point in 2026 compared to 42 murders during the same time period in 2025. The nation’s murder rate overall is at its lowest level since 1900; President Donald Trump attributed this to his border policies.
As for D.C., the White House said Trump’s crime-fighting unit has delivered “tremendous results for the community.”
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National Guard patrols the District of Columbia in 2026. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
“Crime is down overall, dangerous criminals are off the streets, missing children are recovered, illegal guns are confiscated and more,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, applauding the president’s “bold actions in D.C.” to reduce crime and adding that “residents are grateful.”
But Thaddeus Johnson, a senior fellow at the Criminal Justice Council and a professor of criminology at Georgia State University, said it’s difficult to attribute the decline to a single factor.
“There may be an impact of the crunch,” Johnson said in an interview, but noted that Washington, D.C., has been plagued by court backlogs and backlogged cases in recent years, which could contribute to rising crime rates. He said recent progress in clearing the backlog was allowing investigations to progress and taking criminals off the streets.
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Johnson acknowledged that aggressive investigations by Pirro and others likely deterred some crimes.
“If you prosecute trials, you know that deterrence is not just the severity of punishment, but also the promptness or swiftness and certainty of punishment; the certainty of punishment is more important than its severity.”
He emphasized that he was not disparaging Pirro or the deployment of the National Guard, but said it was difficult to describe any action as a “magic bullet,” especially since other cities across the country also saw declines.
Johnson added that Washington is still grappling with high robbery rates as soon as 2024, including incidents that occur outside traditionally high-crime areas in the Southeast and shift to neighborhoods like the Wharf and the Navy Yard, a revitalized nightlife corridor along the Anacostia River.
“When we’re already starting to see a lot of crime going down, I haven’t seen any direct evidence of why these crimes are going down that I can say, ‘yes, it’s because of prosecutions and because of judges,'” he said.
“It’s hard to say that doesn’t play a role… especially when we see similar patterns across the country.”
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Claims that the White House has been successful in reducing crime in Washington contradict earlier warnings from critics that deploying the National Guard would backfire.
District of Columbia councilman Robert White Jr. initially warned that it was abnormal to see armed guards in an American city:
“It’s very difficult to explain to my children, ages 6 and 9, what’s going on here. It’s a job because it’s not only unwelcome, it’s inappropriate. It’s also not helpful. But I don’t think it’s going to be helpful in any way.” White told Governing News: In September.
The Democrat added that local officials “have an obligation to be clear that this will make crime worse for years to come.”
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of nearby Takoma Park, Maryland, similarly predicted the increase was a bad idea:
“No one in Washington is asking Trump to call in the National Guard or take over the MPD. This is a fake, manufactured crisis if I’ve ever seen anything like it,” Raskin said. said in august. “Trump has repeatedly undermined public safety in our nation’s capital since taking office.”
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also said last fall that Trump was acting like a “freed wannabe king.”[ing of] “The national guard’s mandate on the city’s youth and homeless population has no legal basis and would jeopardize the safety of people in our nation’s capital.”
Fox News’ Elise Oggioni contributed to this report.
