❓WHAT HAPPENED: Crime in Washington, D.C. has seen a dramatic decrease in early 2026, with homicides dropping 80 percent, robberies down 58 percent, and overall crime down by 26 percent compared to the same period in 2025.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Trump administration, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and federal law enforcement agencies have contributed to these results through targeted interventions.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The data reflects crime statistics in Washington, D.C. for the early weeks of 2026, compared to the same period in 2025.
🎯IMPACT: The significant decline in crime demonstrates the effectiveness of the President’s law and order policies, offering a model for other cities to follow.
President Donald J. Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital, is bearing significant fruit. Data from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) show that, year-to-date, homicides are down 80 percent, robberies are down 58 percent, burglaries are down 58 percent, car thefts are down 57 percent, and crime across the board is down 26 percent when compared to the same time last year.
In the first month of 2026, Washington, D.C. saw only two homicides—over the same period in 2025, the city had already racked up ten murders. Meanwhile, robberies fell from 158 in the first month of 2025 to just 67 in the first month of 2026. Motor vehicle thefts, one of the most common crimes in the capital city, sat at 381 in January of last year but fell to 162 in the first month of 2026. Overall, the total crime count for D.C. slid from 1,880 incidents in the first month of last year to 1,385 this past month.
The National Pulse reported last month that crime on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Metro and bus system hit an over two-decade low last year as the National Guard presence has bolstered the city’s police department. Overall, crime on Metrobuses fell 37 percent, while Metrorail saw a 34 percent decline, and crime in Metro parking facilities fell 40 percent.
Notably, the success of the crackdown has resulted in an extension of the National Guard deployment as the city continues to refocus its police force on neighborhoods that have long needed a more substantial law enforcement presence. The plummeting crime rate has also all but ended resistance to the Guard deployment, which city officials initially opposed.
The Trump administration’s public safety efforts in D.C. come in direct response to a surge in lawlessness under former President Joe Biden.
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