President Donald Trump’s law and order agenda is to thank for the murder rate dropping by 20% this year so far, the White House said Tuesday.
Crime data analyst Jeff Asher reviewed the most homicide-prone cities nationwide and found a more than 20% decrease from 2024.
“Since President Trump took office, murder rates have plummeted across the entire United States,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Daily Signal in a statement. “American families were promised their communities would be safer and President Trump swiftly delivered by vocally being tough on crime, unequivocally backing law enforcement, and standing firm on violent criminals being held to the fullest extent of the law.”
As of early May, murders were down 31.6% in Baltimore, 34.5% in St. Louis, 36.8% in Cleveland, 63% in Denver, 30.6% in New Orleans, 26.8% in New York, and 23.7% in Chicago, according to Asher.
Philadelphia had 88 recorded homicides as of May 22, 2025. Four years ago, by May 22, 2021, 201 murders had been recorded, according to the Philadelphia Police Department crime dashboard.
Eighty-eight is the lowest year-to-date homicide number that the PPD has listed on its dashboard for this same period, tying with 2014 and 2015.
The lowest national murder rate recorded was in 2014.
“If this decline continues through the Fall then we should seriously start having a discussion about the probability of a record-breaking year,” Asher wrote on his Substack. “Until then, it’s sufficient to be aware of and measuring the possibility of a new record low.”
The murder rate in 2024 also fell from the 2020 spike and returned to pre-COVID levels.
Trump has signed a number of executive orders aimed at reducing crime rates in America.
On his first day back in office, Trump issued his executive order, Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety.
As part of this executive order, Trump acknowledged the constitutionality, long usage, and popular support of the death penalty—particularly for those who have been convicted of committing heinous crimes. He also recognized that it is his duty as president to faithfully enforce lawfully entered death sentences against such individuals.
On March 27, Trump signed an executive order improving the safety of the nation’s capital by keeping dangerous criminals off the streets and strengthening the Washington, D.C., police force.
On April 28, Trump signed an order empowering state and local law enforcement to “relentlessly pursue criminals and protect American communities.”
Trump has also been relentless in his efforts to remove criminal illegal aliens and gang members from America’s streets.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]
