In a week marked by heated rhetoric and political maneuvering, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller ignited a national debate by claiming that Washington, D.C. is more violent than Baghdad and some of the world’s most dangerous places—a statement that has drawn sharp criticism and intense scrutiny of crime statistics in the U.S. capital.
Miller’s comments came during a Thursday interview with NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer, where he asserted, “It is more violent than Baghdad, it is more violent than parts of Ethiopia, parts of many of the most dangerous places in the world. It’s really shocking if you actually look at the graph that has been shown comparing parts of some of the most dangerous failed states in the world compared to D.C. D.C. is more violent.” According to TNND, Miller did not specify which graph he was referencing, leaving many to question the basis for his claims.
These remarks followed President Donald Trump’s threat to federalize Washington, D.C., after a high-profile incident in which Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a former DOGE employee and protégé of Elon Musk, was severely beaten during a failed carjacking allegedly perpetrated by a group of teenagers. Trump responded forcefully, declaring, “Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16 years old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released.” He warned, “If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City.”
The president’s call for action did not end there. Trump insisted that the law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute minors as adults, starting at age 14, and to “lock them up for a long time.” His remarks were echoed by Elon Musk, who also called for federalizing the city in an effort to crack down on crime, and CNN’s senior political commentator Scott Jennings, who noted that the attack on Coristine had “set off a firestorm” within the GOP.
However, the rhetoric from the White House stands in stark contrast to official crime data from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, D.C. According to year-to-date figures released on August 8, 2025, violent crime in the city has actually decreased by 26% over the past year, with 1,572 violent offenses reported so far—544 fewer than the same period last year. The MPD further reports that total violent crimes fell by 35% between 2023 and 2024, and major categories such as homicides, assaults with a dangerous weapon, and robberies have all seen significant declines. Specifically, homicides are down 13%, assaults with a dangerous weapon have dropped 19%, robberies are down 29%, burglaries have decreased by 19%, and thefts from auto and other thefts are each down by 5%. The only major crime to see an uptick is arson, which rose from three incidents to four compared to the same time last year.
Comparisons to Baghdad, meanwhile, are similarly complicated. Shafaq News, an outlet based in Baghdad, reported a 20% drop in violent crime in the Iraqi capital during the first six months of 2025 compared to the last half of 2024, citing data from the Iraqi interior ministry. However, The National News Desk noted that it could not independently confirm these figures, and the context of crime reporting in Baghdad differs significantly from that in Washington, D.C.
Despite the data, Miller doubled down on the administration’s narrative, telling NewsNation, “The president has been very clear that he is going to take the action necessary to secure the city of Washington for the people who live here, for all the American people and all who visit here. It’s our capital city.” He added, “You’ll be seeing more soon, and I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, in terms of—I’ll let the president make the announcements, but the president has been very clear that he is going to take the action necessary to secure the city.”
The prospect of federalizing the nation’s capital has drawn fierce opposition from local leaders and civil rights advocates. In February, Delegate Elanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., blasted Trump’s earlier calls for a federal takeover as “anti-democratic” and “based on misinformation.” She argued, “We have made significant progress in our historic march toward making D.C. the 51st state, and President Trump’s comments, a continuation of the anti-democratic rhetoric from Republicans concerning the District of Columbia, despite their basis in falsehoods, is evidence of that progress.” Norton emphasized that such remarks are “attempts to remove what small measure of democracy the more than 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, have.” She further linked the fight for D.C. autonomy to the core values of the American Revolution, pointing out that colonists fought for self-representation and against taxation without representation—principles D.C. residents continue to champion in their push for statehood.
While the White House has moved forward with deploying federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets of D.C. in a seven-day operation, The Mirror reported that there was “little to no coordination” between the MPD and federal agencies regarding the deployment. This lack of communication has raised concerns among local officials about the effectiveness and appropriateness of such measures, especially given the downward trend in crime statistics.
The political backdrop to these developments is equally charged. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has credited Miller with shaping several of the Trump administration’s most controversial immigration policies, including the “zero-tolerance” family separation policy, the so-called Muslim ban, and the ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. According to the SPLC and a report in Vanity Fair, Miller has also been instrumental in purging government agencies of workers not fully aligned with his agenda.
For many D.C. residents and observers, the debate over crime and federal intervention is about more than just statistics—it’s about the city’s right to self-governance, the accuracy of political rhetoric, and the broader struggle over democracy in the United States. As the situation continues to unfold, the city’s residents, leaders, and law enforcement officials are left to navigate the competing narratives and the very real impacts of national politics on local life.
With crime in D.C. statistically at a 30-year low, but political tensions at a high, the city finds itself at the crossroads of fact and perception, democracy and control, local autonomy and federal power.
