AUGUST 25, 2025 – President Donald J. Trump’s historic effort to restore public safety in the nation’s capital has led to unprecedented drops in violent crime, including murders.
The President signed an executive order Monday tasking Pete Hegseth with establishing “specialized units” in the National Guard that will be “specifically trained and equipped to deal with public order issues” — the clearest sign yet he intends to expand the US military’s role in domestic law enforcement activities across the country. The Executive Order states:
- The Secretary of Defense shall, subject to the availability of appropriations and applicable law, immediately create and begin training, manning, hiring, and equipping a specialized unit within the District of Columbia National Guard, subject to activation under Title 32 of the United States Code, that is dedicated to ensuring public safety and order in the Nation’s capital. As appropriate and consistent with applicable law, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall each deputize the members of this unit to enforce Federal law.
- The Secretary of Defense shall immediately begin ensuring that each State’s Army National Guard and Air National Guard are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate, as appropriate under law. In coordination with the respective adjutants general, the Secretary of Defense shall designate an appropriate number of each State’s trained National Guard members to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization for such purposes. In addition, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure the availability of a standing National Guard quick reaction force that shall be resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment.
Now, as President Trump rightly calls attention to the crime and disrepair gripping other major U.S. cities — like Democrat-run Chicago — Democrat politicians seem far more upset about the offer of assistance than the crime epidemic in their own backyards.
Here are the facts on Chicago’s crime problem:
- For 13 consecutive years, Chicago has had the most murders of any U.S. city.
- For seven consecutive years, Chicago has had the highest murder rate among U.S. cities with more than one million people.
- In 2024, Chicago’s murder rate per capita was three times higher than Los Angeles and nearly five times higher than New York City. That’s more than double the murder rate in Islamabad and nearly 15 times more than Delhi.
- Out of Chicago’s 147,899 reported crimes since January 1, arrests have been made in just 16.2% of them.
- More illegal guns are recovered in Chicago than in New York City and Los Angeles combined.
- The number of reported motor vehicle thefts last year was more than double the number in 2021.
- Chicago has also come under scrutiny over discrepancies in its homicide data reporting.
Chicago’s residents want action:
- “You have seniors that have been shot. Where’s the outcry? We need to have a police car out here and detail because we don’t know if this will happen again,” said one woman after a shooting near a senior living facility injured five people.
- “You hardly see a police car in the neighborhood. It just seems like crime is really out of control right now… Mayor Johnson is more worried about his school board and his pension stuff that he’s working on right now. He should be worried more about the neighborhoods in Chicago,” said a pub owner and robbery victim.
- “We have a rule — on weekends, we don’t walk here. If we to West Loop or whatever, we’ll Uber, then we’ll Uber home,” said one downtown resident after a shooting involving a group of teenagers.
- “[Burglaries, robberies] were not happening a few years ago. It was very peaceful. Now it seems more dangerous to walk around the neighborhood,” said a small business owner after four armed robberies within an hour rocked his neighborhood.
- “We certainly have a crime problem in Chicago,” said one alderman.
- “I don’t think [Mayor Johnson] really listened to our concerns. He doesn’t understand. He needs to come and be in the midst of one of these ‘teen takeovers,’ and then maybe he’ll understand how dangerous it is for everyone,” said a resident of downtown Chicago after repeated teen brawls in the area.
- “I was taking my daughter to school, and I noticed that my window was busted. This is not okay,” said a woman whose vehicle has been vandalized seven times in one year.
- “I’m shocked and I’m disappointed at the same time because this neighborhood used to be a very good neighborhood,” said a resident after the third neighborhood store in one week was looted by criminals.
- “There’s no control. There’s no law and order,” said a Chicago resident.
Here are only a few recent headlines detailing crime in Chicago:
- Portage Park armed carjacking leads to charges against 19-year-old Chicago’s kid carjackers: Inside the SRT Boys’ yearslong crime spree (Chicago Sun-Times, 6/6/25)
- 5-year-old boy fatally shot in Kenwood found sister’s gun in purse (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/25/25)
- 2 shot, 1 fatally, on South Side, Chicago police say (WLS-TV, 8/25/25)
- 3 killed, another wounded in Garfield Park shootings (WFLD-TV, 8/22/25)
- 3rd Foot Locker store targeted by crash-and-grab thieves within 1 week, Chicago police say (WLS-TV, 8/24/25)
- Suspect in custody after armed carjacking on Chicago’s West Side, police say (WFLD-TV, 8/15/25)
- Truck downs store barricade in Wicker Park smash-and-grab (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/20/25)
- 1 killed in Rogers Park shooting, Chicago police say (WLS-TV, 8/13/25)
- Violent weekend across Chicago: dozens shot, four killed (WLS-TV, 8/11/25)
- 1 dead, 5 injured in Chicago mass shooting, police say (ABC News, 8/10/25)
- 16-year-old boy fatally shot Uber driver with ‘ghost gun’ during Chatham carjacking, prosecutors say (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/10/25)
- Chicago police officer hit by car, shots fired in NW Side smash-and-grab burglary, chase, CPD says (WLS-TV, 8/7/25)
- 16-year-old charged in carjacking, fatal shooting of man on South Side, Chicago police say (WLS-TV, 8/6/25)
- Portage Park armed carjacking leads to charges against 19-year-old (WMAQ-TV, 8/6/25)
- Man, 41, killed in shooting on Chicago’s South Side, police say (WFLD-TV, 8/4/25)
- Four carjacking suspects in custody after pursuit by state police ends in Chicago (WBBM-TV, 7/25/25)
- Boy, 17, charged with Chicago armed carjacking (WFLD-TV, 7/18/25)
- Chicago carjacking: 14-year-old charged in Edgewater attack (WFLD-TV, 7/8/25)
- More Than 40 Shot, 7 Killed by Gunfire Over Fourth of July Weekend Across Chicago: Police (WTTW-TV, 7/7/25)
- Chicago carjacking: Man, 38, took car with 7-month-old inside, police say (WFLD-TV, 7/5/25)
- Carjacking suspect hits victim with his own car before crashing, battering woman in the Loop: CPD (WLS-TV, 7/5/25)
- 4 killed, 14 hurt in Chicago mass shooting: ‘Absolute chaos’ (ABC News, 7/4/25)
- River North mass shooting sees 4 killed, 14 more wounded after rapper’s party (WBEZ Radio, 7/3/25)
- 12-year-old, 13-year-old charged in North Austin carjacking: Chicago police (WLS-TV, 7/1/25)
- Trio charged after armed carjacking in Englewood, police say (WFLD-TV, 6/27/25)
- 3 teens charged with stealing 72-year-old man’s car at gunpoint (WFLD-TV, 6/13/25)
- Teen carjacked 66-year-old woman at gunpoint, police say (WFLD-TV, 6/9/25)