CITYWIDE — President Donald Trump on Friday stated Chicago is his subsequent goal as he deploys the Nationwide Guard to resistant cities, however Mayor Brandon Johnson stated the transfer could be unlawful — and utterly pointless.
Trump deployed 2,000 armed Nationwide Guard troops to patrol Washington, D.C., earlier this month, saying the transfer will cut back crime and homelessness. However the metropolis is experiencing its lowest crime fee in 30 years, and its leaders and residents have expressed dismay on the troops’ presence.
Now, Trump has set his sights on Chicago.
“We’ll straighten that one out, in all probability subsequent, that shall be our subsequent one after this,” Trump stated Friday from the Oval Workplace. “I believe Chicago shall be our subsequent, after which we’ll assist with New York.”
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The president then referred to as Johnson “incompetent” and Chicago “a large number.” Trump additionally claimed that folks in Chicago are “screaming for us to return.”
Trump didn’t say when he plans to ship federal troops to Chicago.
In an announcement, Johnson stated he takes Trump’s menace critically, however that town has not acquired any formal communication relating to further federal regulation enforcement or navy deployments to Chicago, calling Trump’s crime technique “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.”
“Unlawfully deploying the Nationwide Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and regulation enforcement after we know that belief between police and residents is foundational to constructing safer communities,” Johnson stated. “An illegal deployment could be unsustainable and would threaten to undermine the historic progress we now have.”
The mayor went on to quote 2025 crime statistics, which present a 30 p.c discount in homicides, a 35 p.c discount in robberies and an almost 40 p.c drop in shootings.
It’s not the primary time Trump has threatened this. Earlier this month, the president hinted that Chicago and different main cities might be the goal of a Nationwide Guard deployment. Trump stated Democrat-led cities resembling New York, Los Angeles and Chicago might additionally see an analogous response — though every of them, in addition to D.C., has lately seen vital declines in violent crime.
On X, previously referred to as Twitter, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker additionally criticized Trump’s plans.
“Issues Persons are Begging for: 1. Cheaper groceries 2. No Medicaid and SNAP cuts 3. Launch of the Epstein Information,” Pritzker wrote. “Issues Persons are NOT begging for: 1. An authoritarian energy seize of main cities.”
Johnson and Prizker stated earlier this month that Trump has no proper to ship federal troops to Chicago. Pritzker has repeatedly 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.
Since Washington, D.C., isn’t a state, the federal authorities can train further authority over its police and different affairs, based on the Washington Submit.
There’s an ongoing courtroom case difficult the Trump administration’s determination to ship hundreds of Nationwide Guard troops and tons of of Marines to Los Angeles in June throughout protests over immigration raids.
That deployment was initially dominated unlawful, however it was later allowed to proceed by an appeals courtroom. Most troops have since left town, based on The New York Instances.
Johnson went on to say the main focus needs to be on investing in crime discount methods which can be confirmed to work — not including navy to cities.
“We all know that our communities are most secure after we absolutely put money into housing, group security, and schooling,” he stated. “The Nationwide Guard is not going to alleviate the housing disaster. It is not going to put meals within the stomachs of the 1 in 4 kids that go to mattress hungry each night time in Chicago. … There are various issues the federal authorities might do to assist us cut back crime and violence in Chicago, however sending within the navy isn’t one among them.”
Reporter Quinn Myers contributed.
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