Bizarre Trump brag claims DC now 'perhaps' safest city in the world

President Donald Trump proclaimed Monday that Washington, D.C. had gone from the “most unsafe city in the United States, and perhaps the world” to “perhaps the safest” in just four days following his federal takeover of the nation’s capital, and despite critics ridiculing the takeover’s paltry arrest numbers.

“Now, in just a short period of time, it is perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour!" Trump wrote Monday in an online post on his social media platform Truth Social. "People are flocking to D.C. again, and soon, the beautification will begin!”

Trump’s federal takeover of D.C. kicked off last week on Tuesday, and as of Sunday, has produced more than 300 arrests, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Considering the more than 1,650 federal troops currently patrolling the city’s streets, however, along with several dozens of National Guard troops, critics have mocked the takeover as performative.

Trump's claim that D.C. had been the least safe city in the U.S. is also incorrect. It's not even in the top 30, according to FBI figures.

Nevertheless, Trump insisted that in just four days, the nation’s capitol had “perhaps” been transformed into the country’s single-safest city. He also alleged, without evidence, that D.C. officials had provided “fake” crime data, and that they were now under a “serious investigation.”

“D.C. gave fake crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety,” Trump wrote. “This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do, and they are under serious investigation for so doing!”

Trump’s authority to implement a federal takeover of D.C. is limited to 30 days, with an extension requiring approval in Congress, an unlikely outcome given the GOP’s slim majority. However, a White House insider has suggested an emboldened Trump may seek to make the takeover “permanent,” regardless of his authority to do so.