Overview
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer reported a 9% nationwide fall in reported violent crime for June 2025 through May 2026, with robbery down about 19.4%, murder down about 18.7%, rape down 10% and aggravated assault down 6.2%.
- Bill Maher, in his Friday closing monologue on HBO’s Real Time, credited both expanded Democratic safety-net programs and President Trump’s tough-on-crime image for contributing to the drop and also pointed to wider surveillance such as Flock cameras as a factor.
- The White House issued a statement taking credit for the decline and saying the data show President Trump has delivered a historic reduction in violent crime.
- A retired FBI supervisory special agent said the drop could open room for bipartisan agreement on getting violent offenders off the street, while commentators warned the methods credited by supporters raise civil liberties and deportation concerns.
- Officials and reporters note that FBI figures reflect reported incidents so changes in policing, victim reporting and surveillance can affect totals, and analysts point to longer-term trends that began before the period covered by the new data.