White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that President Donald Trump may consider awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a government employee praised for intervening in a violent crime near the White House earlier this month. Coristine, 19, first gained prominence as a member of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and now works at the Social Security Administration. Police and media reports say he was attacked by a group of teenagers around 3 a.m. on 3 Aug. in Washington’s Logan Circle neighborhood while trying to stop an attempted carjacking that targeted him and a woman. He sustained a concussion and other injuries. The idea of honoring Coristine emerged when conservative commentator Benny Johnson opened Tuesday’s White House briefing by asking if the president would bestow the nation’s highest civilian honor on the young staffer. Leavitt replied that she had not yet spoken with Trump but "perhaps it’s something he would consider," adding that she would follow up with the president. Trump has cited the assault on Coristine as evidence that violent crime in the nation’s capital is rising and has deployed federal law-enforcement personnel to the city for at least a week. Metropolitan Police Department statistics, however, show violent crime has trended downward since 2023.