Violent Crime Plunges 25% Under President Trump as DOJ Reports Largest Annual Decline in More Than 50 Years
Violent crime across the United States dropped dramatically during President Trump’s first year back in the White House, with a new Justice Department report revealing a 25% decline in serious violent offenses and historic reductions in several major crime categories.
The preliminary findings, released Monday by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, show that serious violent victimization fell sharply between 2024 and 2025. Federal officials described the decline as the largest single-year reduction recorded by the National Crime Victimization Survey since the program began in 1973.
The figures provide new evidence of a nationwide reduction in criminal violence as the Trump administration continues prioritizing public safety, federal law enforcement cooperation and tougher enforcement against repeat offenders.
According to the report, the rate of serious violent victimization, which includes rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault, declined from 9.9 incidents per 1,000 Americans aged 12 and older in 2024 to 7.4 incidents in 2025.
That represents a 25% reduction in a single year, with an estimated 669,000 fewer serious violent incidents nationwide.
Aggravated assaults experienced an even larger decline, falling 31% compared with the previous year. Federal researchers estimated that approximately 390,000 fewer aggravated assaults occurred in 2025.
Robbery victimization also decreased substantially, with preliminary figures indicating a decline of approximately 27%.
The reductions extended beyond violent offenses. Property crime victimization fell 19%, while burglary and trespassing declined 25%.
Motor vehicle theft dropped approximately 30%, representing an estimated 349,000 fewer stolen vehicles. Other household thefts declined 19%.
The figures represent a broad reduction in criminal victimization affecting American families, homeowners and businesses.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward credited President Trump’s public safety agenda for the improvements, arguing that the administration’s policies have helped restore accountability and strengthen law enforcement.
“This report is proof that President Trump’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ agenda is working,” Woodward said.
“Under President Trump and Attorney General Blanche, the safety of law-abiding Americans will always come first,” he continued.
Woodward said the administration remains committed to ensuring that Americans can live, work and raise families without fearing violent criminals.
The National Crime Victimization Survey is one of the federal government’s primary tools for measuring crime across the country.
Unlike FBI statistics, which rely primarily on offenses reported to law enforcement agencies, the victimization survey also attempts to capture crimes that victims never report to police.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics collects information from a nationally representative sample of Americans aged 12 and older, examining their experiences with violent and property crimes.
The survey program covers approximately 240,000 people in 150,000 households, although the number of completed interviews is smaller.
Its findings help researchers understand the frequency and characteristics of criminal victimization, including incidents that might otherwise be absent from police records.
The latest report also follows a significant redesign of the survey instrument, which was fully implemented in January 2025. Federal researchers have identified that methodological transition as an important consideration when comparing the new estimates with previous years.
Nevertheless, the findings align with separate federal crime statistics showing a substantial nationwide decline in violence.
Earlier this year, the FBI reported that violent crime fell 9.3% in 2025, marking the largest annual decrease in its historical series.
The FBI’s report found that murder and nonnegligent manslaughter decreased 18.1%, while robbery declined 18.5%.
Reported rapes fell 7.6%, and aggravated assaults decreased 7.2%.
The FBI also found that property crime declined 12.4%, with reductions in burglary, larceny and vehicle theft.
The differences between the FBI and Justice Department survey figures reflect their distinct methods of measuring criminal activity.
The FBI primarily tracks offenses reported to participating police agencies, while the victimization survey measures experiences reported directly by individuals.
Both sets of statistics indicate that violent crime declined significantly during 2025.
The FBI estimated that approximately 1.12 million violent offenses occurred nationwide last year, producing a rate of 327.6 offenses per 100,000 residents.
That rate was down from 362.9 per 100,000 in 2024.
The murder rate fell to approximately 4.1 per 100,000 Americans, matching levels recorded in 1955 and 1956.
FBI Director Kash Patel previously celebrated the reductions, crediting cooperation among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.
Patel said the administration has worked to strengthen coordination between investigators and expand efforts targeting violent offenders.
The FBI has also streamlined procedures for bringing additional officers from partner agencies into federal task forces.
Those partnerships are intended to improve investigations involving criminals who operate across municipal or state boundaries.
President Trump has repeatedly emphasized law enforcement as a central priority of his second administration.
His public safety agenda includes expanded federal cooperation with local police departments, opposition to cashless bail policies and increased attention to violent offenders.
The administration has also deployed federal resources and National Guard personnel to certain major cities as part of its broader effort to address crime.
Trump has maintained that stronger enforcement, additional police resources and accountability for repeat offenders are essential to protecting American communities.
The White House has also linked its immigration enforcement policies to its broader public safety strategy, emphasizing the arrest and removal of noncitizens convicted of serious crimes.
The Justice Department’s latest findings give the administration additional statistics to highlight as it promotes that agenda.
However, the national crime decline began before Trump’s return to office, and the new figures do not establish how much of the reduction resulted from specific federal policies.
Violent crime had already been falling after increases experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and researchers have identified several possible contributing factors, including local policing strategies and changing social conditions.
The latest figures also represent national estimates rather than a guarantee that every community experienced comparable improvements.
Crime rates can vary substantially among cities, counties and states, even when the overall national trend is declining.
The report arrives as public safety remains an important issue ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
Republicans have emphasized the administration’s crime-fighting agenda while campaigning for continued control of Congress.
The newly released figures provide another measure of the decline in violent crime during Trump’s first year back in office.
For Americans concerned about robbery, assault, burglary and vehicle theft, the reductions represent a substantial improvement in several major categories of criminal victimization.
The Justice Department also released separate findings showing that homicide victimization fell 17% in 2025 compared with 2024.
Taken together, the federal reports show a significant nationwide reduction in violence and property crime during the first year of President Trump’s second term.
With both FBI reporting and the National Crime Victimization Survey documenting major decreases, the administration is pointing to the latest statistics as evidence of progress toward its stated goal of making American communities safer.