DC residents feel less safe after Trump takeover: poll

CNN

9 hours ago

Roughly 8 in 10​​ Washington, DC, residents oppose President Donald Trump ordering the federal government to take control of the city's police department as well as his deployment of the National Guard and FBI to patrol the city, a new Washington Post-Schar School poll finds.
Notably, more than half of those living in the capital city have noticed the increased federal presence and 61% of those people feel less safe as a result of Trump's action.
The figures go against the narrative Trump and other top administration officials have touted about the impact of the federal takeover.
'We went from the most unsafe place anywhere to a place that now people, friends are calling me up, Democrats are calling me up, and they're saying, 'Sir, I want to thank you. My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years, and Washington, DC, is safe. And you did that in four days,'' Trump said at the White House on Monday.
Overall, a 79% majority of DC residents oppose Trump's order, according to the survey, with just 17% supportive of the decision. Most, 69%, say they're strongly opposed.
DC residents say, 65% to 20%, that they don't think Trump's actions will reduce the amount of violent crime in the city. By contrast, majorities say they think increased economic opportunities in poor neighborhoods (77%), stricter national gun laws (70%), an increased number of Metropolitan Police officers patrolling communities (63%) and using outreach workers to resolve disputes (57%) would help to reduce violent crime.
Trump, who was supported by just over 6% of DC voters in last year's presidential election, remains broadly unpopular in the District, the poll finds, with his overall job approval rating now standing at just 15% among all residents.
The poll also finds a significant shift in DC residents' attitudes toward crime since this spring, perhaps reflecting the changing political context of the question — just 31% now describe crime as an extremely or very serious problem in the District (down from 50%) and a 54% majority say they believe the problem of crime in the city is improving (up from 29%).
Among the 35% of residents who say they, a family member, or a close friend has been a victim of crime in the past five years, support for Trump's actions stands at 34%, compared with 8% support among those who do not know a recent crime victim.
About half of residents say Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser should be doing more to oppose Trump, with 30% saying she is handling things about right and 12% that she should be more supportive. A 71% majority also say DC police should not help the federal government much or at all to deport undocumented immigrants living in the city. Local police officers have been seen participating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement checkpoints over the past week.
Bowser's rating stands at 53%, unchanged from a May survey, with 54% saying that DC police are doing a good or excellent job.
The Washington Post-Schar School poll was conducted August 14-17 and surveyed 604 DC residents through a combination of live phone interviews and online surveys. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.