CNN Fact-Checker Smacks Down Trump Crime Claims Minutes After Wild Presser: ‘Fantastic’

CNN senior reporter Daniel Dale smacked down a raft of false crime claims by President Donald Trump minutes after Trump’s second wild press conference of the day.

Even as polling shows Trump’s takeover of policing in Washington, DC is deeply unpopular, the president is pushing to send troops to cities like Chicago. Trump and his administration have supported the push with a steady stream of wild and at times unhinged claims about crime.

On Monday’s edition of CNN News Central, Trump’s photo op with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wrapped up — one of two marathon press sessions — and Dale was brought in to fact-check several of those “fantastic” claims:

BORIS SANCHEZ: Really important point to keep in mind. Kim, please stand by. I want to bring in CNN’s Senior Reporter, Daniel Dale, to fact check some of the claims that Trump specifically made about crime across the United States and in the nation’s Capitol. Daniel, Trump said that it’s the first time in many years that D.C. has gone a week, I think he said 11 days, without a murder. Is that accurate?

DANIEL DALE: It is not accurate. So of course, it’s fantastic. There has currently been the 11-day stretch without a reported homicide, but that also happened earlier this year. In February and March, there was a 16-day stretch with no reported homicides in the district. So the president is exaggerating again, and that wasn’t his only false claim, guys, on the subject of D.C. crime. He said that it was an all-time crime high when he took office. He said the worst day was the day he came back, not even close to true. D.C. has not been even close to the all-time highs of the early 1990s.

Now, I know he’s raised questions as the D.C. Police Union has about the validity of some D.C. crime stats. But let’s just look at murder as an example, the least falsifiable kind of crime. D.C. had 187 homicides in 2024. It was over 470 in a couple years in the early ’90s. So no, nowhere close to an all-time peak.

KEILAR: And then talk a little bit about, Trump was asked if he’d consider sending troops into cities in Republican states, because the cities he’s focusing on now, Chicago, D.C., we had L.A. Of course, he has a — he talks a lot about Baltimore as well. These are blue cities in blue states. He kind of turned it around and said, well, there aren’t that many Republican cities. That’s not actually what he was asked. He was asked about cities in red states because the governor is so essential when it comes to activating National Guard and the highest-crime blue cities are actually in red states, and those are not among the ones on his apparent target list, it appears. Can you talk a little bit about what you heard him asked and what he answered there?

DALE: Yeah, I think you did a great fact check there yourself. So, there are indeed a bunch of cities in red states that are high on national crime rate lists, however you slice the data. The president likes to blame the Democratic mayors of those cities. That’s his right. But just looking at the facts, cities like Memphis – Tennessee, Cleveland – Ohio, Kansas City – Missouri, St. Louis – Missouri, Houston – Texas, all among the 10 or 15 cities with the highest violent crime rates, all in red states with Republican governors. So, who’s to blame for that? I think that’s subjective and complicated, but it’s just not true that there aren’t many cities in red states that are high on those terrible lists.

Watch above via CNN News Central.