THE DUMBEST OF THE DUMB
Inside Donald Trump’s Manufactured Crisis in Washington and the Deadly Consequences of His Own Delusions
THE GENERAL STRUTS, THE FACTS SHRINK
It was the kind of spectacle Donald J. Trump lives for: troops in fatigues lining the streets of Washington, D.C., humvees rumbling near the Mall, the optics of a capital city under military supervision, his long-time authoritarian theater finally finding a stage. Since August 12th, the self-styled Commander-in-Chaos has positioned 2,400 National Guard troops in a city that, statistically speaking, has never been safer in the modern era.
While Trump blusters about “American carnage” 2.0, the numbers quietly and stubbornly refuse to obey him.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, not a single District of Columbia law-enforcement officer has been killed in the line of duty in 2025 not MPD, not DC Police, not federal agencies operating inside the District. None. Zero. It is a detail the former president’s supporters seem congenitally incapable of absorbing.
THE REALITY HE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE
Crime in Washington is not spiraling; it is evaporating.
- 34,000 total crimes in 2023
- Down roughly 15% to just over 29,000 in 2024
- Homicides fell 32%, from 274 to 187
- Robberies, assaults, and most violent categories also dropped year over year
Early 2025 data from the U.S. Attorney’s Office show violent crime at a thirty-year low. Preliminary MPD numbers for the first half of the year showed further declines from 2024.
Washington, D.C., for all the shrieking headlines and MAGA hallucinations, is safer than it has been since the early Clinton administration.
But this is Trumpworld: facts are optional, optics are everything, and fear is the product.
“The carnage he screams about didn’t exist until he created it.”
THE SHOOTING HE CAUSED
Then came November 26th, a day that briefly aligned reality with Trump’s fantasies though not in the way his speechwriters would have scripted.
Two National Guard troops, troops Trump himself stationed in a low-crime city for political theater were shot. One died. The other barely survived.
And the alleged shooter?
A man named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national to whom Donald Trump personally granted asylum in April 2025.
In other words:
Trump deployed the troops. Trump granted asylum to the perpetrator. Trump created the tragedy.
And now, in the perverse logic of his perpetual chaos machine, he wants to send 500 more Guard members to a city experiencing a historic decline in violence because his own decision placed troops in the line of fire.
THE OFFICERS WHO DIDN’T DIE
Compare this carnage, Trump’s carnage to the relative calm of the years before his return.
Since the January 6th attack he incited, only three D.C. officers have died:
- One by suicide after battling Trump’s mob at the Capitol.
- One from COVID complications.
- One from an accidental firearm discharge during a gun retrieval.
Not one officer in Washington, D.C. was shot, stabbed, assaulted with a vehicle, or targeted in any violent attack during Joe Biden’s presidency. Not one.
But now, under Trump’s watch, soldiers are dead. And the only violence against uniformed personnel in the capital is tied directly to him.
“If this is leadership, then a wrecking ball is architecture.”
THE NEEDLE WON’T BUDGE—BUT IT MUST
The tragedy is not just in the facts. It’s in the stubbornness of those who refuse to see them.
Trump’s supporters continue to cling to the fantasy that he alone can save a nation from dangers that do not exist and from dangers he himself creates. They cheer the troop deployments, the fear-mongering, the invented crises, never recognizing that the only blood spilled has been spilled because of him.
At what point does loyalty turn into self-harm?
How many more soldiers, officers, and everyday Americans must be endangered before the cult of Trump finally snaps awake?
Because the warning is no longer metaphorical. It is literal, physical, and fatal.
THE FINAL WORD
Trump’s America is not defined by the violence he prevents, but by the violence he provokes.
And unless his supporters break the spell, more of them, more of their sons, daughters, neighbors will be sacrificed on the altar of his limitless ego.
The wake-up call is here.
It has blood on it.
And still, too many refuse to pick it up.
Why It Matters
Trump’s fabricated crime narrative has crossed the line from political manipulation to deadly consequence. When a president manufactures fear, deploys troops unnecessarily, and then blames others for violence caused by his own actions, he becomes the crisis not the solution. This is no longer optics. It is bloodshed created by one man’s delusions.
Key Takeaways
- D.C. crime is at a 30-year low, contradicting Trump’s entire narrative.
- Trump stationed 2,400 Guard troops in one of the safest cities in America.
- The only violent incident involving uniformed personnel in 2025 occurred because Trump deployed them.
- The alleged shooter was someone Trump personally granted asylum just months earlier.
- Trump is now demanding 500 more troops, escalating a crisis created by his own decisions.
- His supporters refuse to acknowledge the facts—even when they turn fatal.
- Trump is not preventing violence; he is producing it.
Further Reading
- How Democracies Die — Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt
A powerful look at how authoritarian leaders weaponize fear, loyalty, and institutions.
https://civilheresy.com/how democracies die - On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century — Timothy Snyder
A concise guide to recognizing authoritarian patterns—before they turn deadly.
https://civilheresy.com/on tyranny - The Road to Unfreedom — Timothy Snyder
Examines how modern strongmen manipulate crises—real and invented—to consolidate power. https://civilheresy.com/road to unfreedom
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