Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

CNN Reporter Admits Trump’s DC Crime Crackdown Is Cleaning Up Loitering At Famous Landmark

Screenshot/Rumble/CNN

President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C., has had a noticeable effect on loitering at Union Station, a CNN reporter admitted Thursday.

Trump announced a federal takeover of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to combat crime in the district Monday, days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker “Big Balls,” was severely injured when he intervened to stop a mob from carrying out a carjacking. CNN reporter Gabe Cohen told “CNN News Central” guest co-host Jessica Dean that the number of people “hanging around” had gone down.

“This is one of the areas of focus that we have heard a lot of concerns about, crime around Union Station, people who are loitering outside,” Cohen told Dean. “I will tell you, as somebody who walks this route all the time, it does seem like there are fewer people just sort of hanging around, but we don’t know exactly what that is.”

Despite claims from Democrats that violent crime has declined by roughly one-third, MPD data on such incidents reportedly excludes cases of aggravated assault and felony assault, even though Washington laws characterize those offenses as violent.

“These National Guard troops, they are not here to make arrests. They do have zip ties on their back, but they are really here just for presence and to assist MPD any way they can,” Cohen said. “I will tell you, sources have told me as recently as this morning that Metropolitan Police that the district itself and the police chief are still the ones ultimately calling the shots when it comes to safety in the district. They have essentially been communicating with those federal partners, but ultimately they are the ones sort of drawing up the game plan and getting assistance from their federal partners.”

“But if you ask the White House, they say it’s Attorney General Pam Bondi and the head of the DEA, Terry Cole, who are the ones who are ultimately in charge here,” Cohen continued. “We’ll see how that dynamic plays out, but again, outside union station, this is what folks who live or visit D.C. can expect to see: A lot of federal law enforcement presence.”

An intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, was fatally shot on June 30 less than a mile from the White House. Two employees of the Israeli Embassy attending an event at the Capital Jewish Museum were killed in a May shooting allegedly carried out by a pro-Hamas activist.