Trump Says ‘One Really Violent Day’ Would End Property Crime

Former President Donald J. Trump mused on Sunday about “one really violent day” as an answer to what he has described as a plague of unchecked property crime in American cities.

“One rough hour — and I mean real rough,” Mr. Trump said. “The word will get out and it will end immediately.”

The remarks, at a campaign rally in Erie, Pa., were the latest variation on a longtime theme for Mr. Trump: An explicit embrace of executive power and police force in the interest of imposing order, or suspending the rule of law to address various societal ills.

He has in the past urged law enforcement to be rougher when making arrests, called for the summary execution of shoplifters, and said he would not be a dictator “except for Day 1.”

“President Trump has always been the law and order president and he continues to reiterate the importance of enforcing existing laws,” Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said in a statement that skirted criticism that Mr. Trump’s comments seemed to be encouraging violence, not law enforcement.

The remarks in Erie came in the context of another well-worn issue for Mr. Trump: property crimes, which he claims are increasing. The F.B.I. last week reported a decline in property crime in 2023.

Mr. Trump claimed such crimes were going unpunished because police were “not allowed to do their job” because of the “liberal left.” He said: “If you had one day, like one real rough, nasty day with the drugstores, as an example, when they start walking out ——” before pivoting to another claim that has become a fixture of his rallies.

Mr. Trump claimed that shoplifters in California are allowed to steal up to $950 from stores without consequence. It’s a reference to a criminal justice measure that state