Crime in American cities is continuing to plummet under President Donald Trump’s second term. Axios reported that in 66 cities across the U.S., crime has dropped in the last year. The report showed that from 2025-2026, homicides fell 17.2%, robberies dropped 16.6%. rapes declined 6.2%, and aggravated assaults fell 5.7%. Roughly 14,200 fewer violent crimes were reported, according to data released by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. 

“President Trump promised to make America safe again — and the data proves he is delivering faster and more decisively than any administration in history,” the White House said in a statement.

John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and former senior advisor for Research and Statistics in the U.S. Department of Justice, told The Washington Stand that if the trend continues, the country will experience the lowest ever murder rate it’s ever seen under President Donald Trump.

“That would bring the murder rate down to about 3.3 per 100,000. The lowest previous [rate] before the Trump administration was 4.5,” Lott said.

Major cities such as Washington D.C. and Philadelphia have both seen crime rates lowered. 

Homicides in D.C. are down 43.9% from the first half of 2025, while homicides in Memphis lowered 43.7%, killings are down 38.3% in Houston, and down 27.2% in Philadelphia.

Additionally, homicides in Newark fell 64.7%, while murders in Raleigh fell 63.6% as well.

“If you want to reduce crime, you have to make it risky for three months to go and commit crime. That means higher arrest rates, higher conviction rates, longer prison sentences,” Lott noted. 

However, some cities saw crime rise from 2025-2026. Honolulu homicides went up 85.7%, from seven homicides to 13, and San Diego homicides increased 81.3%, from 16 to 29, reported Axios. 

Lott said the lowered crime stats are a direct result of Trump’s leadership. “The FBI had twice as many arrests in 2025 as they had done under the last year of the Biden administration in 2024. You had the U.S. attorneys around the country much more aggressive in prosecuting criminals. The U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president. If you look at Washington D.C. during the Biden administration, the U.S. attorney there only brought criminal charges against 33% of those people who had been arrested by the police.”

Under Trump, that number has increased 63%, Lott continued. 

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we had this big increase in violent crime during the Biden administration — a 59% increase in felony violent crime, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics — the largest percentage increase that we've ever seen. That coincided with the huge influx of illegal aliens that we had - the largest ever increase of illegal aliens, at least 12.8 million.”

Under the Trump administration, large deportations are happening, as well as a drop in crime. “Seventy percent of the people who have been deported under the Trump administration were individuals that had criminal records,” Lott explained.

Another way he believes America has become safer is the increase in people carrying concealed handguns. According to a survey by McLaughlin and Associates, the number of American voters who conceal carry has increased from 13% to 15% recently, Lott pointed out. “If you want to reduce crime, you have to have it so that the people who are the most likely victims be the ones who carry.”