Popular Information

09/03/2025

On Tuesday, President Trump pledged to deploy the military in Chicago and Baltimore. In a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social, Trump called Chicago “the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far.”

Last week, Trump called Chicago a “killing field.”

In reality, Chicago has a lower violent crime rate than dozens of major American cities. In 2024, according to FBI data, Chicago had 540 violent crime incidents per 100,000 people. This rate ranked Chicago 55th among American cities with a population of 250,000 or more. Major cities in red states had significantly higher rates of violent crime per 100,000 people, including Memphis (2,501), Kansas City (1,547), Tulsa (942), and Louisville (707). Trump never mentions these cities when railing against urban crime.

According to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D), the Texas National Guard is preparing to deploy to Chicago. (Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) denied the claim.) Five large cities in Texas had a higher violent crime rate per 100,000 people than Chicago in 2024: Houston (1,148), Corpus Christi (864), Lubbock (821), Dallas (658), and San Antonio (594).

In 2025, violent crime in Chicago has continued to plummet, particularly gun violence. Crime data expert Jeff Asher noted that the latest statistics indicate that, in 2025, “the available evidence suggests that Chicago has seen fewer shootings so far this year than any year since the mid-1960s.”

Chicago is part of a nationwide trend of declining violent crime. 2024 was the safest year in America since the mid-60s. Yet, most Americans believe Trump’s narrative that crime is rampant. A recent Associated Press poll found that 81% of Americans believe that crime is a “major problem” in large cities. The same poll found that 55% of Americans believe that it is “acceptable” for the U.S. military to “assist” local police.

Trump has also threatened to deploy the national guard in Baltimore. In August, Trump said that Baltimore was “so far gone” in terms of crime, and called the city a “hellhole” and a “horrible deathbed.”

Trump has also repeatedly attacked Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D). In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one” and called Baltimore “out of control” and “crime ridden.” Trump went on to threaten to “send in the ‘troops’” to “quickly clean up the Crime.”

But contrary to Trump’s claims, Baltimore is experiencing a historic decline in crime. In August, the city recorded seven homicides, which is “the lowest total for the month of August, historically one of the deadliest months of the year, on record,” according to a press release from Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D).