US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed that “young, beautiful girls in the White House” have thanked him for making Washington, DC, safer, as he highlighted his administration’s record on crime during a political event in Long Island, New York.
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Addressing police officers at the event, held in support of a GOP candidate for governor, Trump repeatedly touted his deployment of the National Guard to cities across the US, including the nation’s capital.
“These young, these gorgeous, beautiful girls are -- they want to be safe,” Trump said, without specifying whom he was referring to. He added: “Two years ago, we were in a hellhole, and now we have one of the safest cities.”
Trump’s remarks came as the FBI released its 2025 crime statistics. The data showed that the US homicide rate had fallen to its lowest level in 75 years, while overall violent crime declined by 9.3 per cent last year.
Trump attributed the improvement to his administration’s law-enforcement measures and National Guard deployment in Washington. However, experts quoted by news agency AP noted that national violent crime rates have been declining since 2022, making it difficult to identify a single cause for the trend.
A Council on Criminal Justice report also found that homicides fell 18 per cent nationwide across cities with diverse political leadership.
The Long Island event was attended by Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and actor Kelsey Grammer. Blanche and Patel spoke before Trump, with Patel praising the President’s leadership and crediting him for crime reduction.
The appearance of senior federal law-enforcement officials at an event supporting Republican candidates also departed from longstanding norms in which law-enforcement agencies generally sought to avoid overtly political gatherings.
