Two parallel worlds coexist in the United States: reality and the narrative presented by the White House. According to Donald Trump and his advisers, the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, DC, since August 12, against the wishes of the city government, has saved a capital gripped by chaos and crime. In reality, while crime has persisted in certain neighborhoods, violent incidents have largely declined since the early 1990s.
Yet, according to Stephen Miller, the administration’s chief ideologue and deputy chief of staff, the deployment of 2,200 National Guard troops, some of whom were authorized to carry weapons, has liberated residents of the federal capital. “For the first time in their lives, they can use the parks, they can walk on the streets,” he said, standing next to Trump. “[They] can walk freely at night without having to worry about being robbed or mugged. They are wearing their watches again. They are wearing jewelry again. They are carrying purses again.”
The federal authorities claimed nearly 1,000 arrests in two weeks, a figure that holds little significance without knowing what offenses were committed. They also challenged the city’s statistics, accusing local officials of manipulating the data and insisting that DC had “the worst crime in America,” according to Trump. The political message was clear: The administration is fighting crime, and criticizing its measures would amount to siding with criminals.
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