How the White House Is Turning a Win on Crime Into a Loss

In cities big and small, led by both Democrats and Republicans, violent crime is plunging. Not only did robberies, aggravated assaults and carjackings drop by double-digit percentages between 2024 and 2025. But far fewer Americans are shooting or killing one another — including in Los Angeles, where homicides hit lows unseen since the 1960s, and in New York, which just recorded the lowest number of gunshot victims in the city’s history.

Why this is happening remains something of a mystery — or, at least, a matter of debate. But the Trump administration is eager to take sole credit for it, even though the decline began under the Biden administration in early 2023 and is likely a reflection of broader changes in policy that predate even that.