President Trump on Wednesday deferred to senators to vote the way they feel they must when questioned about Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) torpedoing the nomination of Ed Martin, who is Trump’s choice to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
“It’s disappointing because I know Ed, he’s very talented,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Crime is down in Washington, D.C., street crime, violent crime, by 25 percent and people have seen, they’ve noticed a big difference.”
The president then suggested he didn’t know about Tillis’s decision, after the GOP senator informed the White House earlier this week that he will not support Martin, but he said lawmakers should follow their hearts.
“I didn’t know that but if he, if anybody voted against him I feel very badly about it only in the sense that in this short period of time that he’s been there, crime is down 25 percent in Washington, D.C.,” Trump said. “But that’s really up to the senators, if they feel that way. They have to vote the way they vote. They have to follow their heart and they have to follow their mind.”
The president referred to data from the Metropolitan Police Department showing that violent crime was down 24 percent so far in 2025, compared with 2024 levels, as of Wednesday.
Martin is currently serving as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and has come under strong criticism for helping organize the “Stop the Steal” movement after the 2020 election and for serving as defense counsel to people charged with Jan. 6-related crimes.
Tillis, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who faces a tough reelection race in 2026, cited Martin’s advocacy for people convicted of Jan. 6-related crimes when he announced he couldn’t support his nomination.
A “no” vote from Tillis kills the nomination because Republicans have a 12-10 majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and all Democrats on the panel also oppose Martin’s nomination.
