Trump Administration Cuts $800 Million Violence Grants as US Homicides Run 25% Below 2019
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 31
Trump Administration Cuts $800 Million Violence Grants as US Homicides Run 25% Below 2019
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 31
$800 million in Justice Department grants for community violence intervention was cut in April 2025, hitting programs in cities such as Baltimore and Los Angeles.
The administration said it was shifting toward prosecuting criminals and eliminating wasteful grants, but researchers and advocates argue intervention programs helped drive the recent drop in killings.
US homicides in 2025 were 25% below 2019 levels, according to the Council on Criminal Justice, after a 30% murder-rate jump in 2020 during the pandemic.
Baltimore, Buffalo and Salt Lake City each posted crime declines of more than 40% versus 2019 without National Guard deployments, undercutting White House claims that Trump's troop deployments turned the tide.
Fraud concerns have surfaced in some programs—most notably a Minnesota lawsuit alleging $6.5 million was siphoned from We Push for Peace—but experts say isolated abuses do not explain broad cuts to violence-prevention funding.
As federal support for violence prevention vanishes, can cities sustain their historic crime drop?
While some cities celebrate record safety, others see violence rise. What separates successful community prevention from failure?
Federal Grant Cuts Amid Historic Homicide Decline: The Trump Administration’s Gamble with Public Safety (2025-2026)
Overview
Between April 2025 and May 2026, the Trump administration cut over $800 million in federal grants for violence prevention and victim support programs, even as the nation saw a historic decline in homicides. The Department of Justice justified these cuts by calling the programs wasteful or misaligned with its priorities. However, the cuts affected more than 550 organizations across 48 states, threatening the long-term viability of community violence intervention initiatives. Experts warned that this move could undermine years of progress in reducing violence and supporting victims, putting at risk the gains made during this period of declining crime.