New York– The White House is citing New Delhi’s low murder rate compared to Chicago’s high rate as part of its argument for federal intervention in U.S. cities. President Donald Trump’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Chicago’s homicide rate in 2024 was 15 times higher than the Indian capital’s.
According to city data, Chicago reported a homicide rate of 25.5 per 100,000 residents, while Delhi’s stood at 1.48.
Earlier this year, the White House released a chart to defend Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement in Washington, comparing murder rates across 11 global capitals in 2024. Delhi ranked ninth, ahead of only London and Madrid, while Washington topped the list with 27.64 homicides per 100,000 residents. Islamabad ranked fourth worst with 9.2.
Having already sent in the National Guard to Washington, Trump has now set his sights on Chicago.
“Chicago is a mess,” Trump said last week. “Chicagoans are screaming for help. So, I think Chicago will be our next federal deployment, and then we’ll help with New York.”
The National Guard, often compared to India’s Territorial Army, is organized at the state level but can be deployed both domestically and overseas, as it was in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, unlike India’s provision for President’s Rule, U.S. law does not allow direct federal takeovers of state governments. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have vowed to resist Trump’s plan, warning of court challenges.
“Action will be met with a response,” Pritzker said. “We will not stand idly by if he decides to send the National Guard to intimidate Chicagoans.”
Washington, being a federal territory, gave Trump the authority to deploy the National Guard there despite opposition from Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Democrat-controlled City Council. Bowser has since acknowledged crime has fallen since the surge.
“We know that when carjackings go down, when use of guns goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer, so this surge has been important to us,” Bowser said on Wednesday.
Since the National Guard arrived on August 11, Washington has reported no homicides, compared to 100 killings from January 1 to that date.
Trump has also demanded that the federal death penalty be used in Washington and has called for juveniles to be prosecuted as adults. In addition, he is pressuring states to roll back cashless bail laws by threatening to cut off federal funding.
Casting the issue along party lines, Trump noted that nearly all of the 25 U.S. cities with the highest crime rates are governed by Democrats. Crime fears, he argues, helped him win the presidency.
Democrats counter that crime is declining, but Trump insists it remains unacceptably high. He hopes to use the issue to appeal directly to minority voters, noting that in cities like Chicago, nearly 95 per cent of murder victims are African Americans or Latinos.
Chicago, with a population of 2.75 million, reported 573 murders and 2,189 sex crimes last year, according to city data. Washington, with only 702,250 residents, recorded 187 murders and 143 sex abuse cases. In contrast, Delhi, with a population of 34 million, saw 504 murders and 2,076 crimes against women, according to police. (Source: IANS)
