President Donald Trump appeared to diminish the severity of domestic violence while speaking about crime rates in Washington, D.C., during a speech at the Museum of the Bible. In his remarks, Trump highlighted the drop in violent crime since deploying the National Guard to the nation’s capital, claiming that the city had become significantly safer under his watch. However, he framed the remaining criminal activity as minor incidents occurring within the home, referring to them as “little fights” between spouses that he suggested were artificially inflating crime statistics.

“There’s no crime. They said crime’s down 87 percent,” Trump said during the speech. “They said, ‘No, no, no, it’s more than 87 percent. Virtually nothing.’”

He continued, “And much lesser things — things that take place in the home, they call ‘crime.’ They’ll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, ‘This was a crime.’ So now I can’t claim 100 percent.”

Trump repeatedly emphasized that Washington, D.C., is “one of the most violent” cities in the country, suggesting that his swift deployment of troops had restored public safety. According to the president, the city was now safe enough that residents could walk freely to different locations without fear of encountering crime.

Critics, however, note that this is far from the first instance in which the Trump administration has appeared to downplay domestic violence and its consequences. A recent example involves actor Mel Gibson, a vocal Trump supporter and one of the president’s “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, whose gun rights were restored by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi despite a 2011 misdemeanor domestic violence conviction involving his then-girlfriend and their child.

The restoration of Gibson’s gun rights was controversial from the start. Department of Justice pardon attorney Elizabeth G. Oyer reportedly declined to recommend that his firearm privileges be reinstated, citing safety concerns tied to his domestic violence history. Soon after, Oyer was fired, though the administration denied any connection between her refusal to support Gibson’s case and her termination.

“There are real consequences that flow from people who have a history of domestic violence being in possession of firearms,” Oyer told The New York Times. “This isn’t political — this is a safety issue.”

The Trump administration’s handling of domestic violence issues, combined with the president’s own remarks minimizing the severity of such incidents, has drawn criticism from legal experts, domestic violence advocates, and public safety organizations. By framing physical altercations within households as “lesser” crimes, critics argue, Trump downplays the danger and trauma victims experience, while simultaneously reinforcing a narrative that domestic violence is a private matter rather than a serious criminal offense.