President Donald Trumps focusoncrimeacross America is timelyandnecessary. Its epidemic in many blue cities in our country,andsomething must,andcan, be done about it. His crackdown in Washington, D.C., proves that dramatic reductions incrimein cities acclimatized to perpetual lawlessnessandviolence are possible, butonly if you have the political courage to do so.Next up isChicago, another city plagued by non-stop violentcrime. Trumps focus there has forced local leaders to defend their lax policiesanddeny the reality of rampantcrimein their cities claims that ring hollow to terrorized local residents.Before exposing thecrimerates inChicagoandthe lax policies that have caused them, lets look at the results of the D.C.crimecrackdown.In Washington, D.C., since the operation beganonAug. 7, arrests are up,homicides are down nearly 60%,andviolentcrimehas decreased by 17%. Inone two-week stretch, there wasntone homicide, which is, sadly, remarkable.TRUMP PRANKS DEMOCRATS INTO OPPOSING SOMETHING THEY'VE ALWAYS CLAIMED TO SUPPORTDespite this impressive decline, more effort is needed. There have been106 homicides, 984 reported robberiesand3,157 car thefts this year alone. Those numbers are unacceptable in any city, especially the nations capital.Lax local laws passed by the D.C. City Councilandlocal judges who give criminals a pass every day are major contributors to the citys culture of violence. To fix these gaps, Congress is considering severalproposalsto fix the criminal justice system in D.C. permanently.As a developer who owns property inChicago, Trump is quite familiar with the chroniccrimecarnage in the Windy City. The numbers speak for themselves, despite what Gov. JB PritzkerandMayor Brandon Johnson declare.To put this carnage into perspective, between 2003and2010, 3,481 Americans were killed in action in Iraq, an average of 435 a year. In the war in Afghanistan, between 2001and2014, 1,833 Americans were killed in action, an average of 141 per year. InChicago, between 2017and2024, there were 5,220 homicides, an average of 652 per year!Chicagois a war zone, pureandsimple.PROGRESSIVE CITIES FACE BILLIONS IN ECONOMIC LOSSES AS RETAIL CRIME SURGES 93% SINCE 2019Like in most big blue cities across America, there is a stark difference incrimerates between the richestandpoorest parts of town. White liberal elites in the safest parts of town are oblivious to, or at least immune from, the constant drumbeat of violentcrimein their own city.Chicagois a perfect example.District 3, which includes Hyde ParkandWashington Park, had a homicide rate of 80.68 per 100,000 residents, according to 2024ChicagoPolice Departmentdata. District 6 (Englewood, Roseland, Woodlawn) had a rate of 73.43 per 100,000 residents.AndDistrict 11 (Humbolt Park, West Garfield Park, Near West Side), had a homicide rate of 72.86 per 100,000 residents.Compare those killing fields to Jefferson Park (1.97), Lincoln Square (2.29),andUptown (3.27) home to doctors, lawyers,venture capitalistsandother professionals. Not surprisingly, liberal elites who live in those areas tend to be theones who complain the loudest when Trump engages in increased federal enforcement, including offering much-needed assistance to stateandlocal officials.TRUMP IS TRYING TO SAVE 100,000 AMERICAN LIVES WHILE DEMOCRATS LET CITIES SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROLIts also no coincidence that the first George Soros-backed "progressive" prosecutor, Kim Foxx, was inChicago. As I detailed in mybook, Foxx was hoisted from obscurity into office in 2017 with almost $700,000 of Soros-connected financial support. Foxx unleashed a tsunami of pro-criminal, anti-victim, anti-business policiesonthe city as its top prosecutor, causing a dramatic increase in violentcrime.In the six years prior to that, there was an average of 510 homicides per year (20112016). In the three years before Foxx was elected, 4,460 rapes were reported to the police, an average of 1,486 per year. During Foxxs tenure (20172022), 10,789 rapes were reported to the police, an average of 1,804 per year.Two weeks into the job, Foxx announced that she had raised the bar for prosecuting felony shoplifting from $300 per incident to $1,000 per incident, even though the law in Illinois was clear: felony shoplifting starts at $300.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONWhen she made that announcement, there were 101 people in Cook County Jailonfelony retail theft charges. Ali Abid, a staff attorney at theChicagoAppleseed Fund for Justice, said, "I think this is a really positive step." Abids boss, Malcolm Rich, wasonFoxxs transition team with then-Sen. Kamala Harris.But Rob Karr, the president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said he was "extraordinarily shockedanddisappointed," adding Foxxs rewriting of the laws "sends a message that retail theft is victimlessandnot serious this is tantamount to declaring open seasononretail stores."By 2019, three years into Foxxs social experiment, Karr was proved right. Retail theft reports had skyrocketed across the city. In the ritzy Rush Street shopping district, reported incidents had more than doubled.AndonState Street, retail theft cases were up 32%.President Trumps use of the bully pulpit to highlight the highcrimerates ofChicagoandother blue cities is welcome news. Gone are the days of feel-good slogans about "reimagining" reformand"mass incarceration." The Soros rogue prosecutor movement has failed, as has the "defund the police"andcashless bail experiment.Americans of all stripes wantanddeserve to live in safe neighborhoods. Thankfully, the national mood has shifted in the right directiononcrime.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CHARLES "CULLY" STIMSON