President Donald Trump is facing criticism after he was fact-checked by MSNBC in real time as he lied about crime statistics while announcing his decision to federalize police in Washington, D.C., and deploy the National Guard in an effort to fight crime.
Trump's announcement is a significant escalation of his previous attacks on the nation's capital, which he has repeatedly referred to as "crime-infested." He claimed in his remarks to the press that D.C. is “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,” a claim at odds with Justice Department data showing that the city’s crime rate hit a 30-year low last year.
As he held up sheets of paper his administration presented as crime statistics, he claimed D.C. is a more dangerous place than other major cities around the globe including Baghdad, Panama City, Brasilia, and San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. He also mentioned Bogota, Mexico City, and Lima.
He added:
"Do you want to live in places like that? I don't think so. And the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you'd say, 'Look at the kind of numbers we have: 41 per 100,000.'"
"Number one than we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad but they're not as bad as that."
"Is that where you want to live, the reporters of the world? Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons, as they say. It's getting worse, not getting better. It's getting worse."
Trump claimed there was "a story of a man who quit because he was asked to do phony numbers on crime," assuring the press that Attorney General Pam Bondi would "look into that." He also said that crime statistics under former President Joe Biden "were a disaster and nobody did anything about it, but we're going to do things about it like you wouldn't believe."
As Trump spoke, MSNBC placed a telling crime statistics graphic next to him that showed:
- The overall violent crime rate across the U.S. is down 4.5% and down 26% in D.C.;
- The homicide rate across the U.S. is down 14.9% and down 26% in D.C.;
- The robbery rate across the U.S. is down 8.9% and down 28% in D.C.
MSNBC noted that these statistics come from Trump's own FBI as well as the D.C. Metropolitan Police.
You can watch the live fact-check in the video below.
The fact-check was effective—and Trump was swiftly criticized for blatantly lying.
A White House official said the National Guard is "being deployed to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence."
Troops are expected in D.C. on Tuesday; guard members received a notification saying the deployment order is for August 11 to September 25.
reply to @denairport/Instagram
reply to @DENAirport/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social