CHICAGO — President Donald Trump on Monday stated he was deploying the Nationwide Guard to struggle crime in Washington, D.C. — and hinted that Chicago and different main cities might be subsequent.
However Gov. JB Pritzker dismissed claims that the federal authorities has the authority to ship troops into Chicago, whereas likening the Trump Administration’s actions to these undertaken in Nazi Germany.
Flanked by Legal professional Common Pam Bondi and Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth at a press convention Monday, Trump stated he was sending the Nationwide Guard to Washington to “rescue our nationwide’s capitol from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”
He additionally ordered a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Division, D.C.’s police pressure.
Persevering with on in his remarks, Trump stated Democrat-led cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago may additionally see an identical response — though every of them, in addition to D.C., have just lately seen a major decline in violent crime.
Trump additionally blasted Mayor Brandon Johnson and Pritzker as “incompetent.”
“It’s going to go fairly shortly. And if we have to, we’re going to do the identical factor in Chicago, which is a catastrophe,” Trump stated. “We now have a mayor there who’s completely incompetent. He’s an incompetent man, and now we have an incompetent governor there — Pritzker is an incompetent.”
After a spike in homicides, robberies and different violent acts throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago has seen a decline in most crime this yr, in line with metropolis knowledge.
By way of Aug. 9, Chicago has reported 246 murders, down from 359 throughout the identical interval in 2024, in line with a metropolis dashboard. The town has additionally seen a 32 p.c decline in robberies and a 39 p.c drop in shootings.
Talking throughout an unrelated press convention on Monday, Pritzker rejected Trump’s authorized authority to ship troops to Chicago or different American cities, citing the federal Posse Comitatus Act that limits federal troops from participating in civilian regulation enforcement.
“He has completely no proper, and no authorized capacity, to ship troops into town of Chicago. And so I reject that notion,” Pritzker stated.
Since Washington D.C. just isn’t a state, the federal authorities can train extra authority over its police and different affairs, in line with the Washington Submit.
Requested by a reporter what would occur if Trump flouts the regulation to mobilize the Nationwide Guard or sends different troops to Chicago, Pritzker cited an ongoing court docket case difficult the Trump Administration’s resolution to ship thousand of Nationwide Guard troops, and a whole bunch of Marines, to Los Angeles in June throughout protests over immigration raids.
That deployment was initially dominated unlawful, however later allowed to proceed by an appeals court docket. Most troops have since left town, in line with the New York Occasions.
“What I can say is, it’s clear to me and to most authorized consultants that he simply doesn’t have the fitting or capacity to do it,” Pritzker stated. “Having stated that…the Nazis in Germany, within the ’30s, tore down a constitutional republic in simply 53 days. It doesn’t take a lot, frankly, and now we have a president who appears hell bent on doing simply that.”
Pritzker has change into one in every of Trump’s greatest critics because the Illinois governor ponders his personal run for president in 2028. Final week, he welcomed Democratic lawmakers from Texas to Illinois who had fled their state to disclaim a quorum to Republicans looking for to approve new congressional maps.
Johnson has additionally criticized Trump and his insurance policies throughout virtually each press convention and interview he’s given since January.
In a press release issued Monday, Johnson stated Trump “unfold misinformation” about crime in Chicago, and known as on his administration to revive anti-violence funding and different applications that impression main cities.
“If President Trump needs to assist make Chicago safer, he can begin by releasing the funds for anti-violence applications which have been crucial to our work to drive down crime and violence. Sending within the nationwide guard would solely serve to destabilize our metropolis and undermine our public security efforts,” Johnson stated.
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