President Donald Trump asserted on 11 August that Washington, D.C.’s murder rate now surpasses those of Bogotá and Mexico City, calling the U.S. capital “one of the worst places on Earth.” He added that car thefts in the city have doubled over the past five years and carjackings have more than tripled, using the figures to underscore what he described as a sharp deterioration in public safety. The remarks drew an immediate response from Mexico. At her daily press conference on 12 August, President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected Trump’s portrayal of Mexico City as among the world’s most dangerous urban centers. Citing official 2024 data, Sheinbaum noted that Mexico City recorded roughly 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with about 27 per 100,000 in Washington. “Mexico City has a third of the murder rate that Washington has,” she said, while acknowledging the U.S. capital’s higher per-capita figure validates part of Trump’s comparison. Mexican security officials used the exchange to highlight broader trends, reporting that the country’s average daily count of intentional homicides fell 25.3% in the ten months to July 2025—down to 64.9 killings a day from 86.9 in September 2024. Other high-impact crimes, including robbery and kidnapping, also declined, though extortion complaints rose 25.4% after authorities began encouraging victims to come forward. While the data support Sheinbaum’s rebuttal on relative murder rates, analysts in both countries caution that direct comparisons can obscure differing crime-reporting practices and population sizes. The debate nevertheless underscores how crime statistics on either side of the border have become potent political weapons heading into election cycles in the United States and Mexico.