Speaking in an interview with NBC News journalist Tom Llamas, President Donald Trump commented on the major wins his administration has scored in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where crime is now down a massive 30%, thanks to the much tougher law enforcement environment brought about by federal enforcement.
As background, the president has flooded Minnesota, particularly the infamously woke sanctuary city of Minneapolis, with investigators working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) flooding in to deal with Somali migrant-connected fraud scandals as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and others crack down on illegal immigration.
Paired with those federal efforts, the state and local police have also been forced by the Trump Administration to start dealing with crime, such as by arresting rioters. The result of all of that new law enforcement has been, apparently, that crime in the city generally has fallen off a cliff.
Such is what President Trump revealed to Llamas, saying that the administration’s efforts to crack down on criminals have borne major fruit. He said, “The crime numbers in Minnesota, in Minneapolis in particular, are down 25, 30% because we’ve removed thousands of criminals from the area. These are hardened criminals… Most of them came in through an open border, and we’ve done a great job.”
Continuing on much that same point, but broadening it, the president noted that other cities across America have seen similarly positive and dramatic results as federal law enforcement agents and sometimes even National Guard troopers crack down on crime. Giving the example of the city where this effort began, the District of Columbia, he said, “Look at Washington, D.C. It’s like a safe city. You can walk to the White House. You don’t have to take an armored vehicle.”
Adding to that, he pointed to a number of other examples, noting, for example, that crime in New Orleans has fallen off a cliff thanks to his administration’s efforts and the collaborative work of the Louisiana governor. He said, “Look at what happened in Louisiana. I got a call from the governor, ‘Please do something with New Orleans.’ We went there four weeks ago, crime is down 71%.” And, giving yet another dramatic example, he said, “[In] Memphis, Tennessee, crime is down 80% after five weeks.”
Concluding by commenting on the crime situation more generally, the president noted, “Crime, historically in this country, it’s down [to] the lowest level it’s ever been.” He then added, “We’ve had less murders than we have had in decades. And you know why? Because we’re tough on crime.”
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Watch the president comment on the crime situation here:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, commenting on much the same situation during a press conference, said, “A study from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) shows that the murder rate across America’s largest cities plummeted in 2025 to its lowest level since at least 1900.” She then added, “Let me repeat to put this in perspective, this marks the largest single-year drop in murders in recorded history.”
And, giving the same explanation for it as that given by President Trump, she said, “This dramatic decline is what happens when a president secures the border, fully mobilizes federal law enforcement to arrest violent criminals and aggressively deport the worst of the worst illegal aliens from our country.”
Watch her here: