She also said for seven straight years, Chicago has had the highest murder rate among U.S. cities with more than 1 million people.
In 2024, Leavitt said, Chicago's murder rate per capita was three times higher than Los Angeles, as well as nearly five times higher than New York City. She said that is more than double the murder rate in Islamabad, which is the capital of Pakistan and nearly 15 times more than Delhi in India.
She also said out of Chicago's 147,899 reported crimes so far in 2025, there have been arrests in only 16% of the cases.
These numbers are unacceptable," she said. "There have been more illegal guns recovered in Chicago than in New York City and Los Angeles combined, and the number of reported motor vehicle thefts last year was more than double the number in 2021. And Chicago has also -- just like D.C. -- come under scrutiny over discrepancies in its homicide data reportings. So, as bad as these numbers are, perhaps they are even worse.
Trump said he plans to initiate a crime crackdown in Chicago after he recently launched a similar campaign in Washington, D.C.
It is a priority of this administration to ensure that America cities are safe again," Leavitt said during a news conference.
She also said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has been "parading out there" claiming that "there is nothing wrong with Chicago" and he doesn't need Trump's help.
Well, I think the residents of Chicago would beg to differ and the statistics beg to differ," Leavitt said, adding that Pritzker "should be more than happy" that Trump wants to lend him a hand.
In D.C., she said there have been 1,281 arrests since Trump's "intervention." She added that total crime is down 19%, with violent crime down 30%.
Leavitt also said carjackings are down 67%, with murders down 57%, robberies down 40%, car thefts down 32%, assaults with dangerous weapons down 23%, and property crime down 18%.
These numbers prove the president's bold actions to make D.C. safe and beautiful again are working, just like he said they would," she said.
She added that on Monday Trump signed an executive order to ensure that cashless bail in the city is eliminated.
For too long, D.C. wreckless cashless bail policies have allowed dangerous criminals to be quickly released, which endangers everyone who lives in and visits our wonderful capital," she said. "No cash bails has also foolishly forced law enforcement to repeatedly arrest the same offenders over and over again only for them to be released back in to our nation's capital. This is the definition of insanity and the president is seeking to end it."