Black mayors across the country are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s portrayal of America’s urban centers as “lawless” and “squalid,” saying crime is not spiraling out of control as the president claims.
Their responses came after Trump announced he was taking over control of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and deploying 800 National Guard troops to patrol the city.
Trump invoked rarely used authority under the Home Rule Act to justify the move. Speaking from the White House on Monday, the president said, “We are not going to let crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor continue in our nation’s capital.” He added that the city’s leadership had failed to keep residents safe.
The decision represents the first time since Washington was granted home rule in 1973 that a president has stripped local control from its police force.
Under Trump’s order, Attorney General Pam Bondi now oversees the department.
She named the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as “emergency police commissioner,” a step that city leaders criticized as federal overreach.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the intervention “unsettling and unprecedented.” While acknowledging that more officers on the streets might help in the short term, she described Trump’s action as part of a broader “authoritarian push” that undermines the city’s autonomy.
In cities that Trump has repeatedly singled out, including Chicago, Baltimore, and Oakland, Black mayors said his remarks ignore real progress that has been made in reducing violence.
Van Johnson, mayor of Savannah, Georgia, and president of the African American Mayors Association, said Trump’s words paint an unfair and inaccurate picture of urban America. “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,” Johnson said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cited substantial improvements in public safety over the past year. “We have made historic progress driving down homicides by more than 30 % and shootings by almost 40 % in the last year alone,” he said.
Baltimore has also reported steady declines in shootings since adopting its Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan in 2022, a strategy focused on community-based programs rather than harsher policing. In Los Angeles, city officials noted a 14 % drop in homicides.
Oakland recorded a 21 % decrease in killings and overall violent crime in the first six months of 2025.
The mayors argued that these numbers show investments in prevention, not military deployments, are working. They pointed to youth engagement programs, gun buybacks, and public health approaches to violence as key factors behind the downward trend.
A fact-check by the Associated Press found Trump’s description of Washington’s crime situation exaggerated and, in some cases, false. The president said the capital now faces the highest murder rate in its history, but police records show otherwise.
In 2023, Washington recorded 274 killings, a high number, but well below the peaks of the early 1990s, when more than 400 people were killed annually.
Violent crime overall in Washington is down compared with last year, with decreases in homicides, robberies, and assaults. Mayor Bowser said city agencies had been working with community groups to sustain those reductions.
Trump also compared Washington’s murder rate with cities such as Bogotá and Mexico City, a comparison the fact-check noted lacked proper context.
While the raw numbers may seem close, the conditions driving violence in Latin America, including cartel activity and organized crime, are not equivalent to trends in the U.S.
The president further claimed that “no cash bail” policies were to blame for rising crime, but research has not shown a direct link. D.C. has long had a system where most defendants are released before trial, and judges can still detain those considered dangerous.
The takeover allows Trump to run Washington’s police force for 30 days without congressional approval. He said the deployment of the National Guard and federal agents would address not only violent crime but also homelessness, potholes, and graffiti.
Local officials, however, warned that bringing in outside forces could create new problems. Black mayors pointed out that many of their cities have spent years working to build trust between law enforcement and residents. Federal action, they argued, risks undoing that progress.
In Baltimore, leaders credited community violence interrupters and partnerships with faith groups for reductions in shootings.
In Oakland, city officials said neighborhood-based patrols and job programs have been more effective than heavy police crackdowns.
Savannah’s Van Johnson said the president’s language only deepens divisions. “This kind of rhetoric does nothing to support our communities. It diminishes the real work being done by cities across the nation,” he said.
The move has left Washington residents uncertain about what comes next. Some welcomed the increased presence of law enforcement, saying the city still feels unsafe in parts. Others joined protests outside city hall, carrying signs that read, “Hands off D.C.”
Mayor Bowser said she would continue pressing Congress to protect the District’s home rule authority. “We cannot allow this kind of intervention to become the norm,” she said.
The contrast between Trump and the mayors highlights a national debate over how to address urban violence. Trump argues that federal intervention is necessary to restore order. The mayors say data proves otherwise, and that community-led approaches are already delivering results.
By: Joshua Narh