Last month, President Donald Trump made headlines by announcing a sweeping federal intervention in the nation’s capital, deploying the National Guard across Washington, D.C., and taking temporary control of the Metropolitan Police Department. The move, he said, is aimed at driving down crime rates — despite the city’s mayor noting that crime has been trending downward in recent months.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged she lacked the legal authority to block the president’s plan and suggested the additional federal presence could potentially help. “The fact that we have more law enforcement and presence in neighborhoods — that may be positive,” Bowser told reporters. Trump didn’t stop at D.C. In his remarks, he pointed to other cities plagued by long-term crime issues: “We have other cities also that are bad, very bad. And of course, Baltimore and Oakland — you don’t even mention those anymore, they’re so far gone.”