{"id":182762,"date":"2025-08-28T17:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T17:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182762\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T17:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T17:15:13","slug":"what-polling-shows-about-trumps-pivot-to-crime-amid-washington-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182762\/","title":{"rendered":"What polling shows about Trump’s pivot to crime amid Washington crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> recent focus on crime in D.C.<\/a> and other big cities came as views of his handling of immigration \u2014 the early focus of his second term \u2014 had been souring, a new analysis by The Associated Press shows.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s approach to crime is now a clear strength for him<\/a>, according to a new poll<\/a> from The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a>. It found about half of U.S. adults \u2014 53% \u2014 approve of his approach, higher than support his handling of immigration, the economy or the Russia-Ukraine war. That\u2019s despite outcry from D.C. residents and Democratic leaders<\/a> over his takeover of the city\u2019s police department and his deployment of the National Guard and the fact that violent crime is down<\/a> both in Washington and across the nation following a pandemic-era spike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tough-on-crime turn happened alongside a small boost in his overall approval rating. Just under half, 45%, of Americans now approve of his performance as president, up from 40% in July.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another case of Trump shifting the national conversation to his advantage, often by seizing on Americans\u2019 most deep-seated fears and using hyperbolic language and shock-and-awe tactics that push legal bounds. The businessman and reality TV star-turned-politician has deftly used the tactic throughout his political career to dominate news cycles and redirect public attention from sometimes politically damaging topics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crime has traditionally been one of Republicans\u2019 stronger issues, \u201cso it\u2019s not a real surprise that he has pushed that to the top of the agenda and that people favor him,\u201d said veteran Republican pollster Whit Ayers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll found that crime in large cities is a \u201cmajor\u201d concern for 81% of U.S. adults as the topic has become a top story in both conservative and mainstream news outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s elevated it as an issue,\u201d Ayers said. \u201cAnd if you\u2019re in the White House you\u2019d much rather be talking about crime than tariffs or inflation or a stalemate in Ukraine or than Jeffrey Epstein.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public appears to sours on Trump\u2019s immigration push<\/p>\n

It was clear early in Trump\u2019s second term that immigration was one of his strengths, as it had been during the 2024 campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In March, an AP-NORC poll found<\/a> about half of U.S. adults approved of the way he was handling immigration \u2014 putting it above other key issues like the economy.<\/p>\n

But that advantage had disappeared by the summer, when a July AP-NORC poll found<\/a> only 43% of U.S. adults approved of his approach. Other polls found the same, suggesting that Americans might be souring<\/a> on his aggressive action amid headlines about college students being whisked off city streets<\/a> by masked federal agents and men who were alleged to be gang members wrongly sent to a notorious Salvadorian torture prison<\/a> with no due process.<\/p>\n

A July CNN\/SSRS poll found that 55% of Americans said that Trump had gone too far on deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, up 10 points in February. <\/p>\n

In the latest AP-NORC poll, Trump\u2019s standing on immigration remains underwater, as does his handling of the economy, which has risen slightly, from 38% in July to 43% now. But both of those issues are now dwarfed by his advantage on crime \u2014 including among key groups like independents.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s pivot to crime<\/p>\n

While Trump had long threatened a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., which has limited autonomy because it is not a state, his focus on the city came after one of the most prominent members of the Department of Government Efficiency<\/a> was the victim of an attempted carjacking<\/a> and beating earlier this month.<\/p>\n

After Edward Coristine, nicknamed \u201cBig Balls,\u201d was assaulted by a group of teenagers, Trump threaten to seize control of a city he deemed \u201cout of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days later he posted photos of homeless encampments and garbage strewn across city streets after a Sunday morning motorcade ride to his Sterling, Virginia golf course and announced he would be holding a news conference<\/a> the next day to unveil his takeover plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe prepared! There will be no \u201cMR. NICE GUY.\u201d We want our Capital BACK.\u201d he wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s takeover<\/a> of the city\u2019s police department and his activation of the National Guard wasn\u2019t his first such action. In early June, he ordered the deployment<\/a> of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines in early June to respond to protests against immigration raids in and around the city. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not his first pivot to crime at a politically challenging moment. During the 2020 campaign, Trump activated federal agents<\/a> to fight crime in Chicago and Albuquerque and warned suburbanites of rising crime as he struggled with a flagging approval rating.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s overall approval remains steady<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s ability to change the conversation may have helped him weather controversy over the years. His presidential approval numbers remained<\/a> within a relatively narrow band during his first term, according to AP-NORC polling, a pattern that\u2019s persisted so far in his second. And even when he was out of office, his favorability rating remained remarkably stable.<\/p>\n

Tim Roemer, 59, a lifelong Democrat who lives in Utica, New York, is opposed to the president\u2019s efforts to take over city police departments and Trump\u2019s use of the National Guard, given that crime numbers are down across the nation.<\/p>\n

He said it seemed Trump was seizing on an issue and taking credit for improvements to help himself politically in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s trying to keep his numbers up because he knows the 2026 midterms are coming up and he knows it\u2019s going to hurt him if his numbers are down,\u201d he said. \u201cHe knows how to win people over, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

A campaign promise<\/p>\n

At the same time, Trump and the White House have not abandoned their unprecedented focus on immigration. The Republican administration still frequently talks about the issue, and the president\u2019s rhetoric on crime and immigration are closely tied<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As part of the D.C. takeover, federal authorities have set up checkpoints across the city, where they have asked people about their immigration status and detained them. According to the White House, of the 1,170 people arrested since the takeover began, at least 319 were related to immigration issues.<\/p>\n

The American Immigration Council<\/a>, a non-profit that advocates for immigrants\u2019 rights, has called the D.C. deployment a \u201c Backdoor for Immigration Enforcement<\/a> ” and note the administration has used its takeover to force the District\u2019s police<\/a> to cooperate with immigration enforcement in an unprecedented way.<\/p>\n

The White House also disputed the idea that Trump had shifted focus. During his campaign, they noted, he spoke often about crime, accusing then-President Joe Biden and Democrats of having \u201cturned our once great cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime,\u201d even though statistics refute that claim.<\/p>\n

His campaign released a pair of policy videos in which he pledged to \u201cEnd Crime and Restore Law and Order\u201d and \u201cthe Nightmare of the Homeless, Drug Addicts, and Dangerously Deranged on American Streets\u201d and threatened to \u201csend in federal assets including the National Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking America Safe Again was a key campaign promise for President Trump \u2013 he has long talked about addressing violent crime, especially in our nation\u2019s capital, and ensuring all Americans feel safe in their communities,\u201d said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.<\/p>\n

___ Colvin reported from New York.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll of 1,182 adults was conducted Aug. 21-25, using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s recent focus on crime in D.C. and other big cities came as…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":182763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[10422,1578,12785,84,69,17419,90,57,2055,1819,1818,409,15053,82,8132,50,80,55347,102830,61,67,132,68,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-182762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-abigail-jackson","10":"tag-associated-press","11":"tag-dc-wire","12":"tag-district-of-columbia","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-edward-coristine","15":"tag-elections","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-government-and-politics","18":"tag-il-state-wire","19":"tag-illinois","20":"tag-immigration","21":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","22":"tag-joe-biden","23":"tag-military-and-defense","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-politics","26":"tag-public-opinion","27":"tag-tim-roemer","28":"tag-u-s-news","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115107524807331784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}