Violent crime dropped sharply across the biggest cities in the United States in 2025, yet another validation of President Donald Trump’s commitment to restoring law and order across the country.
Trump took office on a pledge to restore public safety after years of chaos, rising crime, and former President Joe Biden’s soft-on-crime policies that threw the country’s largest cities into anarchy and disorder. Trump has done so in a way that has never been seen before.
Every major violent crime category saw sharp drops in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to the new data: robberies decreased by 20%, aggravated assaults decreased by almost 10%, and overall murders decreased by 19%.
The White House touted this “tremendous success” in a post online.
“These gains build on earlier reports showing America’s cities are now safer than they’ve been in over a century under President Trump’s leadership. The murder rate in the nation’s biggest cities has fallen to its lowest level in at least 125 years — marking the largest single-year drop in recorded history. Beyond murders, the nation also saw dramatic reductions in rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, shooting deaths (fewest since 2015), on-duty law enforcement officer deaths (80-year low), traffic fatalities, and overdose deaths,” the post noted.
It added, “This is the direct result of President Trump’s aggressive, no-nonsense approach to public safety. By surging federal resources to Democrat-run cities that had devolved into war zones, removing savage criminal illegals from our streets, supporting police and prosecutors, and rejecting the Radical Left’s weakness, President Trump’s decisive actions have turned the tide, saved countless lives, and restored peace to communities long abandoned by Democrat politicians who prioritized criminals over citizens.”
According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) report, there were decreases in 2025 compared to 2024 in all of the major violent crime categories. It supports other research on the decreases from the previous year and includes data from 67 of the largest police departments in the country.
–Cities report that homicides overall fell 19%.
–Robberies dropped about 20%.
–Aggravated assaults were down nearly 10%.
Multiple Southern and Sun Belt cities were among the biggest homicide decliners, an Axios analysis of the MCCA data found.
–Florida cities Orlando and Tampa headlined the list with more than a 50% decline in homicides, according to the Axios review.
–Western cities such as Denver, Seattle, Honolulu, and Albuquerque, N.M., also posted large homicide drops.
–These cities were among the hardest hit during the pandemic-era crime surge, and are now seeing some of the fastest reversals.
Chicago and Baltimore both experienced around a 30% drop in homicides last year, an Axios review of the MCCA data found.
–Memphis and Portland both saw about a 25% decline.
–Previous reports had shown all the cities in recent years seeing declines in violent crime.
“After record high crime across the country under Biden’s defund the police era, the murder rate has plunged to a 125-year low as crime falls across the board, according to new data,” the White House said.
The White House pointed to the president sending “federal resources into crime-plagued Washington, D.C.” as a reason for crime drops in the Nation’s Capital.
FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted recently what he described as a record-setting first year at the helm of the bureau during an appearance on Fox News last week, citing major gains in capturing fugitives from the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
Patel appeared on “Hannity” after host Sean Hannity noted that the FBI has apprehended six of its Ten Most Wanted fugitives in just one year.
Patel said the difference reflects a fundamental change in how the bureau operates.
“The simple juxtaposition is that there was a weaponized bureau, a politicized bureau to go after political targets including President Trump and myself, versus the bureau of today that goes based on law and facts and works with our prosecutors,” Patel said.
He said the FBI has placed approximately 1,000 additional agents into the field to focus on violent crime and fugitive apprehension.
“These agents are working around the clock and around the world to bring justice,” Patel said.
“That is why you see these record numbers. Six top 10 captures in one year, which has never been done before, and we’re just getting started,” he added.
