During an Oval Office press conference on August 25, 2025, President Donald Trump ignited controversy with a series of claims about crime in Beverly Hills, painting a picture of a city so plagued by theft that residents, he alleged, have resorted to leaving their car doors, trunks, and even garages open to avoid costly damage from would-be thieves. The remarks, made as Trump signed a new set of executive orders and defended his recent deployment of federal troops to major U.S. cities, have since drawn sharp rebuttals from local officials, law enforcement, and residents alike.
“Beverly Hills is a great place,” Trump said, according to reporting from the Beverly Hills Courier. “I have friends, they leave their trunk open for their car … because they know they’re going to be vandalized. They don’t want the trunk ripped off in order for them to steal what’s in their back. They leave their doors open so when they go in to steal the radio or whatever they take, that they don’t rip off the door … that’s at a level that nobody’s ever seen before. Nobody lives like that.”
He didn’t stop there. Trump continued, “So many cars, I’ve been told this by many people — stars, big people — they leave their doors open so the doors aren’t destroyed by these criminals. All over Los Angeles this is taking place.” The president, who owned a home on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills from 2007 to 2019, claimed these measures were necessary to prevent property damage from rampant crime in the affluent area.
But city officials were quick to challenge the president’s depiction. Therese Kosterman, interim public information manager for Beverly Hills, told the Beverly Hills Courier, “The city is not aware of residents deliberately leaving their cars unlocked in order to prevent vandalism.” In a similar statement reported by the Los Angeles Times, Beverly Hills officials reiterated that they have no evidence or reports of residents leaving vehicles unsecured as a crime prevention tactic.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta was even more direct in his criticism, telling reporters, “Unfortunately, he doesn’t make fact-based, evidence-based decisions. He has an agenda.” Bonta’s comments echoed a broader skepticism among California leaders, many of whom have clashed with Trump over law enforcement and federal intervention in state affairs.
The president’s remarks came as he defended his decision to deploy 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles in June 2025, ostensibly to protect federal property during mass demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. California Governor Gavin Newsom challenged the deployment in court, calling it an “unnecessary power grab.” This month, Trump sent the National Guard to Washington, D.C., citing what he described as out-of-control violent crime, though D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser dismissed the claims as “hyperbolic and false.” Trump has since threatened to deploy troops to other cities, including Chicago and Baltimore, citing similar concerns.
Locals in Beverly Hills, meanwhile, expressed confusion and even disbelief at the president’s assertions. “I was just genuinely confused. I don’t think that’s true. I’ve never heard of anybody I know doing that,” said longtime resident Pria Zandi in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not an issue that anyone worries about.”
Other residents suggested politics, not public safety, may have motivated the president’s remarks. “I think he just has it out for California in general, you know, with the governor and him going back and forth,” said Marty Colon, a Beverly Hills local. “Anything that he can do to bring more attention and try to make this city seem worse than what it really is, it seems like that’s what he’s doing.”
Santa Monica resident Ed Hachar, who frequents Beverly Hills, agreed: “I think he’s overdoing it. There’s no need for military to be on our streets.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has singled out Beverly Hills for criticism. According to both the Beverly Hills Courier and the Los Angeles Times, the president made similar claims about crime in the city during a Republican National Convention event in Orange County, again without referencing law enforcement sources or local data.
What do the numbers say? According to data from the Beverly Hills Police Department presented to the Health and Safety Commission in August 2025, certain categories of crime are actually declining. The city has seen a rise in auto thefts over the past three years, but overall crime increased in 2022 and 2023 before declining in 2024. These trends, officials argue, do not support the president’s dire characterization.
Beverly Hills has also invested heavily in public safety technology over recent years. The city has expanded its network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, which officials say are a valuable tool for police in solving crimes. Additional investments in police-controlled drones and the Real Time Watch Center—a hub for monitoring and dispatching officers in real time—have become central to the city’s crime-fighting strategy.
“Combating crime and investing in public safety technology, such as police-controlled drones, CCTV cameras and the Real Time Watch Center have become focal points for city officials,” the Beverly Hills Courier reported.
Still, crime remains a concern for some residents, especially as auto thefts have ticked up. But the notion that it’s now standard practice to leave one’s car, trunk, or garage open as a defense against thieves is, according to both city officials and residents, simply not accurate. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing that, and I’ve lived here for over two decades,” said another resident, who asked not to be named. “It sounds more like something from a movie than real life.”
Some observers see the president’s comments as part of a broader strategy to justify federal intervention in cities led by political opponents. “He’s been talking up crime in Democratic-led cities for a while now,” said a local political analyst. “It’s a way to frame these places as out of control and in need of federal oversight.”
Trump’s defenders, however, argue that his willingness to address public safety—however bluntly—is a necessary response to what they see as rising crime and ineffective local leadership. They point to increases in specific crime categories, such as auto theft, as evidence that the president’s concerns are not entirely unfounded, even if his anecdotes are disputed.
As the debate continues, one thing is clear: the city of Beverly Hills is eager to set the record straight. Officials, residents, and law enforcement have all pushed back against the idea that leaving cars unlocked is a common or recommended practice. Instead, they emphasize ongoing efforts to improve safety and invest in technology, even as they acknowledge that no city is immune to crime.
With the presidential election season heating up and public safety a perennial concern, expect this debate to linger—at least until the next headline-grabbing claim emerges from the White House or the streets of Beverly Hills.
