“Washington DC didn't have a single murder for [11 days] thanks to my federal takeover. First time in years.”

Multiple speech repetitions claiming an 11-day no-murder period was historically unique

D.C. went 16 days without a homicide earlier in 2025 (from February 25 to March 12) months BEFORE Trump's August 11 federal takeover, according to Metropolitan Police Department data. The "first time in years" claim is flatly false: an even longer murder-free streak happened the same year with no federal troops in sight, and 2024 had its own 11-day streak (Jan. 5–15).

FactCheck.org debunked the claim within days, noting Trump's own streak ran 12 days before ending with a shooting on August 26, 2025. When the White House was asked what data supported the president, it offered talking points, not a dataset. Crime analyst Jeff Asher found violent crime had already dropped 34% in late June, before any intervention: "No intervention or anything, just randomness disguised as meaning." The takeover also can't claim credit for D.C.'s broader trend: the U.S. Attorney's Office reported in January 2025 that violent crime in 2024 was down 35% and "the lowest it has been in over 30 years", a decline fully underway before Trump returned to office. By January 2026, the Washington Post and Axios reported D.C. homicides fell in 2025 for the second straight year, continuing the pre-takeover trajectory.

"An 11-day stretch with zero murders is rare in the city, but there was a 16-day period with no murders earlier this year, from Feb. 25 to March 12, according to Metropolitan Police Department data." — FactCheck.org, Aug. 27, 2025