Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott pushed back against Trump’s characterization of the city as “so far gone” on crime, calling the claim misleading and pointing to historic reductions in violence.
The comments came after Mr. Trump, in a news conference announcing the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police department and the deployment of the National Guard there, cited Baltimore alongside Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Oakland as cities facing severe crime problems.
He added that Baltimore and Oakland were so far gone “we don’t even mention [them] anymore.”
Scott responded in a social media post, noting that Baltimore is experiencing its safest period in more than half a century.
“Homicides are down 28% this year alone, reaching the lowest level of any year on record,” he wrote, urging the president to “turn off the right-wing propaganda and look at the facts.”
Baltimore police data show homicides down 24.3% and nonfatal shootings down 19.5% compared with the same period in 2024.
The number of juveniles killed in the first half of 2025 is the lowest in over a decade.
At a National Night Out event last week, Scott credited the city’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy for much of the progress but acknowledged challenges remain.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also criticized Trump’s remarks, calling the D.C. move “deeply dangerous” and pointing to statewide violent crime reductions exceeding 20% since his inauguration.
“Baltimore is far from perfect,” Scott said, “but the data tells a very different story than the president’s rhetoric.”
