President Trump’s use of federal resources to combat crime in the nation’s capital is forcing Democrats to once again address the issue of law and order, something that has been a vulnerability for them in recent elections.

Democrats were quick to note — following Trump’s announcement Monday that he would federalize the city’s police force and deploy the National Guard — that violent crime in Washington, D.C., is down.

However, Republicans see the message as a winning one as signs suggest voters are concerned about crime regardless, leading some Democrats to warn their party against falling into the same political trap some see as having damaged them in the past.

“My advice to Democrats is don’t take the bait,” said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Nellis noted that voters could still feel strongly about crime even as statistics show improvement in metropolitan areas like D.C., thereby opening Democrats up to easy attacks from the GOP.

“All of the crime numbers suggest that violent crime is down in every major city. I don’t think that people are going to believe that,” he said. “I’m not saying that the numbers are wrong; it’s just that the perception is what it is.”

Republicans have been quick to seize on that perception. One GOP operative compared the party’s messaging on crime to how it framed inflation under the Biden administration, saying: “At the end of the day, it’s how voters feel.”

Polls show Republicans have the upper hand on the crime issue. According to a

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