In just one year, Baltimore went from being ranked the third-most dangerous city in the United States — with murders averaging nearly 300 per year over the past decade — to looking like a completely different city in 2026.
From January to August, 60 people were murdered in Baltimore, but just four years ago, that number was about 160 in the same timeframe. The White House attributes the drop in crime to the “relentless efforts” of President Trump. Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the White House, told The Daily Wire.
“In Baltimore and across the nation, violent crime is reaching record lows — including the murder rate reaching a 125-year low,” Bis said.
It’s not just Baltimore; nationwide murder rates have fallen 18.1%, rape has dropped 7.6%, robbery has fallen 18.5%, and aggravated assault is down by 7.2% since 2025. Trump’s Department of Justice has directed federal prosecutors to crackdown on crime and pushed them to pursue higher charges.
After former Attorney General Pam Bondi was sworn in last year, she signed 14 memos, including one that renewed enforcement of the federal death penalty, which was halted under the Biden administration. Other memos urged prosecutors to “charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” and focus on immigration enforcement, human trafficking, transnational organized crime, and “protecting law enforcement.”
The Trump administration also worked to secure the border and deport illegal immigrants. In Baltimore alone, ICE officials arrested Edwin Sanchez Montiel, an MS-13 gang member and illegal alien from El Salvador whose criminal history included murder. Federal immigration officers also arrested Franklin Chavarria and Julio Gonzalez-Cortez, both illegal immigrants convicted of murder.
In its violent crime crackdown, the Trump administration streamlined processes with states. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said she worked with the FBI and the Department of Justice to “surge resources to Memphis, where federal law enforcement have apprehended gang members who have plagued the city with violent crime.”
Bis added that Trump is working to correct policies from “defund-the-Police Democrats.”
“President Trump promised to make America safe again and the data proves he has done just that. Unlike Defund-the-Police Democrats who release violent criminal illegal aliens into our communities and want cashless bail, President Trump is on the side of law and order and will continue to deliver safe neighborhoods for American families,” she added.
“Defund the Police” statements have become so unpopular that many Democrats and democratic socialists are running away from their past radical statements as midterm elections approach.
“I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke 1 was crazy.'” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with ABC, adding, “What’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.”
Michigan Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed walked back his statements on defunding the police and deleted past posts on the issue on X. At the Democratic National Committee meeting on Saturday, the DNC adopted a resolution urging congressional Democrats to abolish ICE. The vote is nonbinding and does not change the party platform for 2028.
The reform measure, sponsored by DNC Chairman Ken Martin, drew broader support in committee than the abolition proposal.
“The one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what’s happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now and CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] and the federal government should stop. There has to be a better way,” said Martin.
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