Maryland Leaders Put Trump On Blast Over DC Liberation Day, Baltimore Smack Talk

President Donald Trump federalized the nation’s capital, citing dubious crime numbers, and Maryland’s elected officials are closely monitoring events in Washington.

Maryland elected officials were angry with President Donald Trump.

Trump’s efforts to nationally seize control of the District, which he referred to as “Liberation Day,” continued Monday, August 11. He called the District “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,” despite the fact that crime in DC is allegedly at its lowest level since the epidemic.

Attorney General Brian Schwalb declared, “The Administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.”

“There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” he said. “Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26 percent so far this year.”

“We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents.”

Elected officials in neighboring Maryland are closely monitoring events in Washington, DC.

Perhaps no one in Washington, DC, has directly incited more criminality than Donald Trump. The National Capital Region Delegation, which is made up of representatives from Maryland and northern Virginia, said, “He pardoned the violent criminals who attacked our Capitol on January 6 and placed them back in American communities.”

“He even made a man who was filmed urging the crowd to kill DC police officers a senior adviser at the Justice Department.”

Trump attacked Baltimore and other big Democratic communities on his celebration tour following his short takeover of Washington, DC, claiming that crime in Charm City is “so far gone that we don’t even mention (them anymore).”

In a lengthy statement criticizing the president’s actions, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott expressed his outrage at the claim and shared some facts about the city’s historically low crime rate. He called the move and bluster “the latest effort to distract from the issues he should be focused on, including the roller coaster of the US economy, thanks to his politics.”

“When it comes to public safety in Baltimore, he should turn off the right-wing propaganda and look at the facts.”

The city is safer than it has been in decades, according to Scott, who noted that homicides decreased by 28% in 2025, “reaching the lowest level of any year on record.”

“We still have real work to do to build on this progress but that work starts and ends here in Baltimore, with the local, state, and federal partners who have gotten us this far.”

On behalf of the representatives of Baltimore City and the State of Maryland, elected authorities, led by Scott and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, released a joint statement.

“The President mentioned Baltimore by name in his remarks, and made it clear that he intends to deploy the National Guard to other cities across the country,” they stated.

“As leaders in Baltimore and the state of Maryland, we stand in strong opposition to the President s latest power grab, which is based on pure lies about our communities.”

Additionally, Moore described the president’s choice as “deeply dangerous.”

“President Trump’s decision to mobilize the National Guard to conduct municipal policing in DC lacks seriousness and is deeply dangerous,” he stated. “We await outreach from the White House if they want to have a serious conversation about public safety.”

“But we won t hold our breath.”

“Even as the Trump administration has slashed funding for the programs that have brought crime to record lows,” the leaders noted, pointing out that homicides have supposedly decreased by 40% since 2021.

“If the President of the United States was actually interested in reducing violence, he would look to local leaders as an example, rather than federalizing troops to take over our cities.”

Trump was also criticized by the Democratic Mayors Association for the government involvement.

“The President s announcement this morning is an unserious and unacceptable publicity stunt,” authorities stated.

“He should concentrate on persuading his Republican congressional colleagues to reinstate the funds they unlawfully withheld from the city’s budget, which could result in reductions to police enforcement and other public safety measures, if he hopes to lower crime in the District of Columbia.