Trump Deploys Federal Forces to D.C. Amid Crime Stats Probe

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AUG 8

Above: U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on July 16, 2025. Image copyright: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg/Getty Images

story last updated AUG 10

The Spin

Republican narrative

Trump is right to clean up Democrat-run D.C., a lawless cesspool where youths as young as 14 mug, maim, and shoot innocents without fear, knowing they'll be released. Local policies coddle criminals, as seen in recent brutal beatings. Worse, they fabricate stats — not just in D.C. but nationwide. The old FBI under Biden released false data for years, gaslighting Americans into not believing their own eyes.

New York Post Townhall

Democratic narrative

Trump's alarmism distorts reality; D.C. violent crime hit a 30-year low in 2024 and fell again by double-digits in early 2025 nationally. While 2022 FBI data was revised to a 4.5% rise, trends show sustained declines tied to jobs and education, not coddling. His federal overreach via executive order violates Home Rule, erodes democracy in a majority-Black city, and pushes punitive policies proven ineffective.

The Washington Post Brookings

Establishment-critical narrative

Whether you're on the left or right, Trump seems to have lost his mind regarding how to treat Americans. His ICE subpoena in Colorado tramples state privacy laws, forcing officials to expose citizens' data, and Palantir's AI surveillance grid threatens everyone, not just immigrants. Even assuming his deportation promises were good, his "Alligator Alcatraz" and Guantanamo Bay plans risk becoming sites where Americans could vanish without rights, normalizing a dystopian police state.

Unz Jacobin