Trump’s Claim That D.C. Has the World’s Highest Murder Rate Doesn’t Hold Up to the Facts

When President Donald Trump announced a sweeping federal intervention in Washington, D.C.’s law enforcement operations on August 11, he came armed with charts, statistics, and a stark warning. The nation’s capital, he said, had a murder rate “higher than the worst places on Earth.”

Holding up a chart to reporters, Trump declared: “We have D.C.: 41 per 100,000. No. 1 that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad, but they’re not as bad as that.” The chart, which compared homicide rates in various capital cities, appeared to show D.C. far outpacing infamous hot spots for violence such as Bogotá, Colombia, and Mexico City, Mexico.

But there was a glaring problem: Trump’s numbers weren’t from 2025—or even 2024. The data came from 2023, when D.C.’s homicide rate stood at 39.4 per 100,000 people. And even then, it was far from the world’s highest.

Outdated and Misleading Figures

The chart Trump used was first aired on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” on August 6, 2025. What the president didn’t mention was that since 2023, D.C.’s homicide rate has fallen sharply. According to a February 2024 report from the Rochester Institute of Technology, the city’s rate had dropped to 27.3 per 100,000—a significant decline from the previous year.

The Department of Justice announced on January 3, 2025, that violent crime in the District was down 35% from 2023, marking the lowest rate in more than three decades. DOJ data show homicides fell from 274 in 2023 to 187 in 2024, and 2025 numbers continue the downward trend: as of August, there have been 99 homicides, compared to 112 at the same point last year.

How D.C. Compares—at Home and Abroad

While Trump’s comparison casts D.C. as the most dangerous city in the world, global crime data tells a very different story. The Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian nonprofit that tracks homicide rates internationally, found that at least 49 cities had higher homicide rates than Washington in 2023.

Among these were three capital cities—Cape Town, South Africa; Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica; and Caracas, Venezuela—each of which far outpaced D.C.’s rate.

Even within the United States, the District does not top the charts. The Rochester Institute of Technology report ranks D.C. fourth nationally, behind St. Louis, New Orleans, and Detroit.

Why the Numbers Can Be Misleading

Criminologists caution against simplistic international comparisons. “A comparison to other large U.S. cities would be more appropriate in my opinion,” said crime data analyst Jeff Asher, noting that population size and city boundaries heavily influence per-capita rates.

James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, added that D.C.’s limits are “almost completely urban,” unlike cities such as Philadelphia and New York, which incorporate suburban areas. This difference matters because suburban areas tend to have lower crime rates, which can dilute a city’s overall numbers.

There’s also the question of data reliability. “Crime data in some foreign cities is of questionable accuracy,” Fox noted. He also emphasized a key factor behind America’s relatively high homicide rates: “the proliferation of guns” in the U.S.

Trump’s World Ranking Doesn’t Exist

Trump’s assertion that D.C. is “No. 1 anywhere in the world” is not supported by any reputable dataset. In 2023, the District’s homicide rate was indeed higher than those of Bogotá and Mexico City, but it trailed dozens of other cities worldwide.

Furthermore, by mid-2025, the city’s homicide numbers were continuing to improve, making Trump’s claim even more disconnected from current reality.

The Politics Behind the Statement

Trump’s comments came during a high-profile announcement that his administration would assume control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy National Guard troops to the capital. The administration has framed the move as a response to public safety concerns, but critics see it as a political power play in the run-up to the next election cycle.

By invoking a “worst in the world” narrative, Trump amplified public fears while using outdated statistics to justify unprecedented federal intervention in local policing. The fact that his claim is false raises questions about the accuracy—and the intent—behind the numbers presented.

The Bottom Line

Trump’s statement that Washington, D.C., has the highest homicide rate “anywhere in the world” is inaccurate on multiple fronts. He relied on outdated data from 2023, when D.C. was not even in the top 50 globally. Since then, the homicide rate has dropped sharply, placing the District behind several other U.S. cities.

Fact-checkers rate his claim as False. While violent crime remains a serious issue in the capital, the numbers do not support the picture painted at Trump’s press conference.

As the federal government moves forward with its takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, the accuracy of the statistics used to justify such drastic measures is likely to remain a point of contention—and a reminder that numbers, without context, can mislead as easily as they can inform.