Karoline Leavitt Says Trump Is Open To Working With Red States To Clean Up Blue City Crime

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Caller that President Donald Trump is open to working with Republican governors to crack down on crime in blue cities.

Trump began his crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 7 when he initiated an increased law enforcement presence in compliance with a March executive order creating the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The president federalized the D.C. police and deployed the National Guard a few days later. Now, Trump has set his sights on other cities like Chicago and New York. Leavitt told the Caller during Tuesday’s press briefing that there could be other locations the president is open to helping. (RELATED: Trump Speaks Out On Video Of Ukrainian Refugee Being Stabbed On Metro In Charlotte)

“Democrats have tried to argue that red states have higher crime rates while overlooking problems of high crime in blue cities. I’m wondering if the President would consider working with red state governors to fix high crime in blue cities, like in Memphis, Tennessee,” White House correspondent Reagan Reese asked Leavitt.

Leavitt first responded to Democrats’ claims that crime is actually higher in Republican-run states than Democrat-run states.

“If you look at the list of the top 20 high crime cities in the United States, every single one, with the exception of one in Louisiana, is run by a Democrat, and these Democrats have supported the same policies that I spoke about at the beginning of this briefing, like cashless bail. If you look at a red state, Mississippi, but a Democrat-run city in that state, Jackson. In 2019, Jackson, Mississippi, eliminated cash bail for virtually all misdemeanor cases,” Leavitt explained.

“And while Jackson is not formally a sanctuary city, the state of … Mississippi formally banned sanctuary cities, and this city has acted as a de facto sanctuary city for criminals and illegal aliens since 2017. Same thing, Birmingham, Alabama, a Democrat-run city in a red state. In 2017, the Birmingham City Council unanimously passed a resolution quote, ‘committing to establish sanctuary policies.’”

Leavitt then affirmed that the president would work with Republican leaders to help ease crime in Democrat-run cities.

“So to answer your question, yes, the President wants to work with anyone across this country who wants to end these horrible policies and to bring law and order to our streets, and I think that is proven by his tremendous cooperation with the mayor of Washington, D.C., and our nation’s capital, and just look at the results of that,” the press secretary said before touting statistics from Trump’s crime crackdown.

NEWS: Since Aug. 7, Trump’s DC crackdown has made 2,177 total arrests, a White House official shares with @DailyCaller. 20 known gang members have been arrested and 7 missing children have been found.

Last night, 57 arrests were made, 14 of which were illegal aliens.

Some of…

— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) September 9, 2025

Since the start of Trump’s crackdown, 2,177 total arrests have been carried out, a White House official told the Daily Caller. To date, officials have apprehended 20 known gang members and tracked down 7 missing children.

During Monday night’s operations, officials made 57 arrests, including the apprehension of 14 illegal aliens, the official told the Caller. Some of the arrests last night include an individual arrested on a warrant for assault with the intent to kill and another individual arrested on a warrant for armed carjacking, the official told the Caller.