President Donald Trump held his seventh cabinet meeting since the beginning of his second term, and he led the meeting with a discussion about the federalization of law enforcement in Washington, D.C. The president announced that if anyone murders a person in the nation's capital, the D.C. attorney will now seek the death penalty. Trump clarified that the states will make their own decisions, but affirmed, "If somebody kills somebody in the capital — Washington, D.C. — we're going to be seeking the death penalty. And it's a very strong preventative, and everyone who's heard it agrees with it."
Trump made a surprising move toward the press pool, asking NTD News D.C. correspondent Iris Tao to share her own personal encounter with the criminal element in D.C.
WATCH:
WATCH: @IrisTaoTV shares a terrifying story of being held at gunpoint and pistol-whipped a few years ago in Washington, D.C.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 26, 2025
"I'm very grateful to God ... but also to Mr. President. Thank you for now making D.C. safer... on behalf of my parents, and now my baby on the way." ❤️ pic.twitter.com/KugIEjLAbu
This should be a kick in the gut and a further wake-up call to everyone. Tao said, "Such incidents involve not just me, but also my family. If he had shot me, I could have died right there, in the middle of nowhere, without my families or my friends knowing, at the age of back then, I think... 23. I had just started my career here in D.C. without even starting a family."
These heinous crimes not only harm the victim, but also the people they love and who love them. It also casts a nefarious shadow over one's behavior and movement. Tao was grateful because she survived that incident and was able to continue to pursue her career, but she lived in fear that entire time.
Tao had originally shared her story last Thursday on NTD.
The latest move by the White House to crack down on crime in Washington prompted me to reflect on a harrowing moment from my own life—the morning I was robbed at gunpoint just steps from my apartment.
It was 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday in January 2022. I had just left my building near The Wharf in Southwest D.C. when a man in a black ski mask appeared out of nowhere, pointed a gun at my face, and demanded my phone.
“Give me your phone,” he barked as he snatched it from my jacket pocket.
Then, with cold precision, he ordered me to hand over my wallet, laptop, and phone password.
Before fear even set in, instinct kicked in—not to protect my belongings, but to protect the sensitive information I carried. As a White House reporter for NTD Television, the sister outlet of The Epoch Times, I felt an overwhelming duty to safeguard my sources, colleagues, and loved ones.
“I can’t,” I said. “Don’t do this.”
He struck me across the face with the butt of his handgun.
My cheek went numb and flushed red.
“Help! Help!” I screamed as he ran off. A neighbor called the police. Later, an officer told me the assailant had fled into an apartment just a block away. They believed they knew who he was—but I never heard from them again.
The incident left Tao so traumatized that she didn't even tell her grandparents about it until a year later.
I grew up in New York City and considered myself street-smart. Crime statistics had always been just numbers. I walked the streets of Queens and Manhattan alone, day or night. That Saturday morning shattered that confidence.
It’s been more than two years. Since then, I’ve never walked the streets of D.C. alone at night. I Uber home every day—even though my office is within walking distance. I’m on high alert after dark, whether I’m working or just meeting friends. Fear lives around every corner.
I didn’t tell my grandparents what happened until a year later—I was afraid it would devastate them and convince them I should leave D.C. entirely. Truthfully, I still love this city. But the scar of that morning lingers.
Read More: D.C. Attorney General Tries to Come for Trump Over Ending Cashless Bail and It Doesn't Go Well
After two years, Tao was able to become established in her career and is now starting a family of her own. But had the mugging gone any other way, the story would have been different. This is something the legacy media continues to gloss over: that hardworking people who are simply going about their day, doing their jobs, and seeking to provide for their families no longer have to live in tyranny, with their behavior and movement dictated by the criminal element in the city. The ugly rhetoric from the mayors of Chicago and Maryland, claiming that tyranny is the very definition of what Trump is attempting to do, and citizens like the liberal Chicagoan who claimed she was violently mugged but that Trump needs to stay out of Chicago, is evidence of how inured Americans have become in their acceptance of violent crime. Instead of seeing violence as something to be eradicated, we too often see it as something we have to manage or tolerate.
Dive Deeper: An AWFL Made a Post About Trump's Crime Crackdown, and It Broke the Internet
Editor's Note: The days of lawlessness in Washington, D.C. are over. Thanks to President Trump, our nation's capital will be SAFE once again.
Help us continue to report on President Trump’s efforts to restore law and order to our great nation. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member