Douglas Murray: Trump cleaned up crime in DC – and taught everyone a lesson in public safety

I never fail to be amazed at what we get used to.

Trundling along in the New York subway the other day, I saw all the usual sights.

Turnstile hoppers, of course, who never fail to aggravate me. 

“Why am I the only mug who’s paying?” is my general feeling.

“Why did I just effectively pay for that guy’s journey as well?”

I think.

But perhaps these folks just misread Mamdani’s manifesto promises and think the subway, as well as the buses, are already free. 

Then there were the homeless people everywhere, of course.

And unlike the turnstile hoppers, I feel nothing but profound sadness for these people.

It is such an indictment of a society that in one of the richest cities on Earth we have so many people trying to find a patch of dry ground to make their own in this freezing weather. 

And of course there are the crazy people, the unwell people and the people whom every passenger seems to be keeping a careful eye on as they holler at the subway car and shake their fists at the moon.

This isn’t normal.

It isn’t normal that a daily commute should also be a daily lesson in situational awareness training.

But the lurking possibility of violence is something we New Yorkers are all used to.

And we don’t have to be. 

Capital improvement 

I went down to DC this week and got a reminder of this.

I remember that arriving at Union Station in the nation’s capital was an alarming experience. 

During COVID, the whole DC park opposite the station, as well as the station itself, was transformed into one huge homeless encampment with protests for the myriad causes of that period flagged everywhere.

It used to be embarrassing arriving in the capital.

And at night, it could be scary. 

But how changed everything is now. 

Ever since President Trump decided to clean up Washington, DC, you can see the results for yourself.

The Trump haters had a field day, of course.

“Troops on the streets are a sign of fascism” was the gist of their argument.

As everything always is with them.

As though a city as important as the nation’s capital shouldn’t be guarded by people in uniform. 

Yet from the moment of arrival now you can see the effects of the crime crackdown in DC.

In the hall of Union Station, a string trio was playing Christmas-themed music.

No crazed maniacs were screaming at them and trying to steal their bows.

It was just appreciative families getting a warm welcome entering or leaving the capital. 

The streets feel cleaner and the whole place feels safer.

In fact, it felt strange as a New Yorker to walk down streets that seemed so pleasant and secure. 

And it’s not a mirage.

The figures speak for themselves.

Violent crime in the capital has fallen by 50% compared with the same months last year.

Robberies are down nearly as much and the homicide rate has gone from a wave to a trickle. 

Grudging admission 

Even Trump haters are having to admit that it’s working. 

Long-time DC resident Andrew Sullivan this week wrote a mea-culpa column in which he had to fess up.

Having originally been one of the people who had “harrumphed” at Trump’s cleanup, Sullivan admitted that when he returned to the city recently, “I had to eat my harrumphs. The city felt instantly different: calmer, quieter, saner.” 

The park opposite where he lived was, he said, once a pile of drug needles and crime; now there was quiet.

“It was 10 days before I was accosted by a mentally ill homeless person on the street,” he went on, “something that was a daily occurrence before.” 

And that’s the thing with the crime crackdown.

It works.

As of course it would. 

If you put hundreds of troops and other law enforcement on the streets — and make them highly visible — then of course crime will fall.

A criminal has to be severely deranged — and there are some — to commit a crime right in front of a law-enforcement officer.

The people who like to pretend that this is some prelude to fascism should consider for a moment that perhaps it is something else: a completely necessary response to cities that were spinning out of control. 

Which brings me back to New York.

Because as I wrote last week, it looks like we’re going to be in for one hell of a ride in this city for the next few years. 

Our incoming mayor has appointed person after person to his transition team who thinks crime is relative and prisons are the problem.

He has put forward people — and has decided to listen to, and be advised by people who are from exactly the school of thought that has caused cities like this one to fall apart. 

Like a lot of New Yorkers I remember when things were different in this city.

I remember three decades ago when Times Square at night was a dicey proposition.

Today I take people there in the evening when they’re visiting the city and there are almost always families milling around, taking selfies with the great landmarks and essentially acting in a way that is — or should be — completely normal. 

Stark contrast 

But it isn’t normal everywhere.

If you take out your cellphone on the street in London these days, you’re likely to have it snatched straight out of your hand.

The locals there will tell you to put your phone away the moment you take it out. 

That’s because London’s police follow the idea that minor crime isn’t worth policing, especially when there are elderly ladies posting things on X for which they need to be arrested.

As a result, a city that used to be safe has instead gone the other way. 

And that’s the thing.

In the end, it’s a choice.

The president chose DC, among other cities, as a place that should be made safer.

And so it is.

Our incoming administrators in New York view things another way.

And I think we all know how that will go in turn.