Crime Trends in the United States

The White House is citing Council on Criminal Justice and Major Cities Chiefs Association data showing steep 2025 declines in homicides and other violent crimes — roughly a 21% drop in a 35‑city CCJ sample and about 19% in a 67‑city MCCA sample — which officials say coincides with the lowest U.S. murder rate since at least 1900 and large declines across many major cities. Administration spokespeople credited Trump policies such as tougher border enforcement, increased federal arrests and deportations for the improvement, while researchers and local officials caution the change likely reflects multiple factors — a return to pre‑2020 trends, restored court operations and local interventions — and note similar drops in places without federal deployments.