by Gennaro Mansi
La Voce di New York
September 5, 2025

Trump’s narrative of violent, out-of-control cities clashes with the data, but still strikes a chord

Declare an emergency, create maximum uproar, claim to have solved the problem — or, failing that, blame your predecessor. Donald Trump has taken a long-established path in politics he, too, knows well. He declared a “public safety emergency” in Washington, D.C., deployed 800 National Guard troops and seized control of the Metropolitan Police. And he did not stop at the capital. Other “out-of-control” cities were soon threatened with the same fate — Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia — all run by Democratic mayors. The political subtext was obvious: where progressives govern, chaos and anarchy prevail. But is that really the case?

… Other contradictions verge on the absurd. While fanning the flames of fear, the Trump administration has deliberately cut more than $800 million from violence-prevention programs and local law enforcement support. “Trump is not fighting real crime; he is staging political theater,” said Jeffrey Butts of John Jay College in New York. 

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