U.S. President Donald Trump reaches for a badge presented by U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta during the signing of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
MSNBC host Ana Cabrera fact-checked President Donald Trump’s claims about Washington, D.C., being a “trashy” city.
“I want to do a quick fact check to start here regarding some of the comments we just heard from the president, claiming that D.C. was a total mess of crime,” Cabrera said at the top of the hour, cutting into Trump’s remarks. “Reminder: At the time this takeover happened in D.C., violent crime was down 26 percent, according to D.C. police data. Also, FBI data shows the homicide rate last year in D.C. had plummeted to a 30-year low.”
Trump also described the city’s streets and medians as “trashy” and “broken.” However, much of D.C. was built 200 years ago, and its roads were designed for horses and carriages — not modern cars, much less large SUVs. Most D.C. narrow streets, especially those named with letters, do not have room for medians. Major streets like Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues use side medians for parking, while some segments of Connecticut Avenue and areas near the Kennedy Center have planter boxes or short medians. Both streets flanking the U.S. Capitol also lack medians.
Trump further claimed credit for repairing D.C.’s crumbling streets. In reality, significant construction projects to address road damage from winter salt and de-icers occur every summer. Notably, when Trump ordered tanks and military equipment for a parade, the roads suffered extensive damage — requiring $16 million in repairs, according to NBC Washington.
See the fact-check below or at the link here.