On August 18, 2025, President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a "crime-ridden wasteland" and took the extraordinary step of deploying hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents into the nation’s capital. He vowed to replicate this intervention in other cities he described as "horribly run"—Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland—all of which, notably, are led by Black mayors. The move has ignited a fierce backlash from Black municipal leaders across the country, who say the president’s rhetoric is not only misleading but also politically and racially charged, undermining years of hard-won progress in reducing violent crime.
For the mayors of these cities, Trump’s claims stand in stark contrast to the data. According to the Associated Press and AP News, violent crime in Washington, D.C. has fallen since peaking in 2023, with police reporting a 26% decrease. Chicago, under Mayor Brandon Johnson, has seen homicides drop by more than 30% and shootings by nearly 40% in the past year. Los Angeles, led by Mayor Karen Bass, recorded a 14% decline in homicides from 2023 to 2024. Baltimore, under Mayor Brandon Scott, has reported steady reductions in shootings and killings since 2022, with carjackings and other crimes also falling. Oakland, too, has seen homicides down 21% and overall violent crime nearly 30% lower in 2025 compared to 2024.
“It gives us an opportunity to say we need to amplify our voices to confront the rhetoric that crime is just running rampant around major U.S. cities. It’s just not true,” said Van Johnson, mayor of Savannah, Georgia, and president of the African American Mayors Association, in remarks to AP News. “It’s not supported by any evidence or statistics whatsoever.”
Trump’s intervention has been widely interpreted as targeting cities with Black leadership. “It was not lost on any member of our organization that the mayors either were Black or perceived to be Democrats,” Johnson told the Associated Press. “And that’s unfortunate. For mayors, we play with whoever’s on the field.”
The president’s actions have spurred the African American Mayors Association to push back, determined not to let their achievements in public safety be buried beneath what they describe as fearmongering and political posturing. “We need to amplify our voices to confront the rhetoric that crime is just running rampant around major U.S. cities. It’s just not true,” Johnson reiterated.
In Baltimore, Mayor Brandon Scott has been especially vocal. Not only has he criticized Trump for using crime as a "dog whistle," but he has also highlighted the administration’s cuts to programs that help prevent violence. “He has actively undermined efforts that are making a difference, saving lives in cities across the country in favor of militarized policing of Black communities,” Scott told AP News via email. He pointed out that the Justice Department slashed $1 million in funds meant for violent crime prevention programs.
Scott’s approach in Baltimore has focused on addressing crime as a public health issue. Under his leadership, the city implemented the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan in 2021, investing in community violence intervention programs and services for crime victims. The results have been tangible: Baltimore recently achieved a nearly 50-year low in homicides, according to city data cited by NewsOne and the Associated Press. “To say that we’re not tackling the issue is simply just ignoring the facts,” Scott said, pushing back against critics who argue for more punitive approaches.
Oakland’s Mayor Barbara Lee has also credited community organizations for their pivotal role in reducing crime. Over the last year, violent crime dropped by 29%, with the city’s Department of Violence Prevention and local nonprofits leading the charge. “These results show that we’re on the right track,” Lee said at a news conference, as reported by AP News. “We’re going to keep building on this progress with the same comprehensive approach that got us here.” She dismissed Trump’s comments as “fearmongering.”
Community leaders in Oakland, like Nicole Lee of the Urban Peace Movement, have warned that deploying troops could undo fragile progress. “It creates kind of an environment of fear in our community,” Lee told AP News. “The things we are doing are working.”
In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is now suing to block the federal takeover of the local police force. The city has seen agents from multiple federal agencies, National Guard members, and even the United States Park Police performing law enforcement duties, from patrolling the National Mall to questioning people parked illegally. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson stated the guard troops would not be armed, but declined to elaborate on their assignments, which reportedly include safety patrols and beautification efforts.
Mayors like Savannah’s Van Johnson argue that cities need federal assistance for multistate investigations, gun trafficking, and cybercrime—not soldiers on their streets. “I’m a former law enforcement officer. There is a different skill set that is used for municipal law enforcement agencies than the military,” Johnson said.
The racial dimension of this political showdown has not gone unnoticed. Baltimore’s Mayor Scott, frequently a target of racist attacks, recently shared a hateful voicemail he received, underscoring the vitriol that Black leaders often face. “I am never going to be afraid to be a proud Black man,” Scott said, according to NewsOne. He emphasized that his administration is making Baltimore a better city for Black residents and all communities, focusing on investment in historically neglected neighborhoods and smart, effective crime strategies.
Despite the progress, Scott and other mayors are not resting on their laurels. “We’re not celebrating the accomplishment but rather acknowledging that historic progress and knowing we have even much more work to do,” Scott said. He argued that critics are really bothered because “we’re not tackling it their way. We’re not going out and arresting every Black person just for being Black…we’re being smart on crime, which is a lot better and proven to have a lot better results than their tough on crime ways of the past.”
As the nation watches, Black mayors are closely following how Mayor Bowser handles the unprecedented federalization of the D.C. police force. Van Johnson praised her resilience: “Black mayors are resilient. We are intrinsically children of struggle,” he said. “We learn to adapt quickly, and I believe that we will and we are.”
For now, the standoff between the White House and Black-led cities continues, with mayors determined to defend their records and communities against what they see as a politically motivated narrative. The data, as they point out, tells a story of progress—one that, despite the noise, they are committed to seeing through.
