BALTIMORE – Demonstrating united opposition to President Donald Trump, state and local officials marched through a Baltimore neighborhood historically facing challenges, aiming to further their efforts in reducing gun violence.

Governor Wes Moore highlighted the success of these initiatives, noting that Baltimore’s homicide rates have reached record lows, with a steady decline from 2023. He emphasized that Baltimore does not need the presence of the National Guard, which Trump has threatened to deploy.

“We do not need occupiers,” Moore declared to a group of law enforcement, anti-violence advocates, local clergy, and community leaders assembled in Park Heights, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore.

Moore extended an invitation to the president in a letter last month, encouraging him to witness Baltimore’s achievements. Officials credit these improvements to their approach in tackling the fundamental causes of violence through social services.

The dispute over public safety has intensified, with Trump dismissing the invitation by describing Baltimore as “a horrible, horrible deathbed” and belittling Maryland’s leadership.

“I’m not walking in Baltimore right now,” he said.

His refusal spurred a strong show of solidarity from state and local leaders.

Moore, who has a military background, condemned Trump for exploiting the National Guard as a political tool in what he calls a “purely theatrical” display of power.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joined the governor Friday in his childhood home of Park Heights. The sprawling majority-Black community in northwest Baltimore has suffered from decades of disinvestment, but Scott has made a point of investing in its future. Park Heights once boasted a thriving economy and picturesque tree-lined streets surrounding the historic Pimlico Race Course. But white flight and other factors led to increased rates of poverty, violence and economic decline.

As the group started walking, they chanted: “We all we got, we all we need.” They passed a dollar store and other rundown businesses. They turned down a residential street where people waved from the porches of brick rowhomes.

Kevin Myers, a longtime Park Heights resident, was climbing into his truck when the group passed. He said Baltimore leaders are making him proud.

“Let Trump know you can handle Baltimore,” he yelled to the mayor, who smiled widely in response.

Another man briefly heckled the group, saying the event was just a media stunt, not proof that elected officials are truly committed to helping the community.

Trump has previously targeted Baltimore

Scott has repeatedly accused Trump of using racist rhetoric and targeting Black-led cities with his promises to deploy National Guard troops. In remarks after the walk, he urged Baltimore residents to push back against that rhetoric.

“Do not shrink. Stand up in the moment,” he said. “So a hundred years from now … they will know that you stood up to fascism, that you stood up to racism, that you stood up to folks who were trying to destroy your democracy.”

Earlier this week, the president renewed his threats to send National Guard troops to Baltimore, though he appeared more focused on Chicago. He has already sent troops into Los Angeles and Washington, where he has also federalized the police force. He has said he plans similar moves in other Democrat-run cities even as a federal judge on Tuesday deemed the California deployment illegal.

This isn’t the first time Trump has taken aim at Baltimore. He previously called the city a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” Those comments came amid the president’s attacks on Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, whose district included Baltimore until his death in 2019.

In his letter to the president, Maryland’s governor noted recent cuts to federal funding for violence intervention programs. He asked Trump to “be part of the solution, not the problem.”

Homicides and shootings have fallen in Baltimore

Homicides and shootings in Baltimore have plummeted over the past two years. The city recorded 201 homicides in 2024, the lowest annual total in over a decade and a 23% drop from the previous year. The downward trend has continued throughout 2025, including the lowest number of homicides on record for the month of August. It is a relief for Baltimore, where violence surged following the 2015 in-custody death of Freddie Gray and subsequent protests against police brutality.

While Baltimore’s numbers are especially dramatic, other cities are also seeing post-pandemic declines in violence.

Baltimore officials say that is because they are taking a holistic approach to public safety, instead of relying solely on law enforcement. The city is investing in historically neglected communities to help address the myriad factors that perpetuate cycles of gun violence: hopelessness, joblessness, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, housing instability, poor conflict resolution and more.