President Donald Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he intends to clean up Chicago, no matter what the Democratic politicians who run the city and the state have to say.
Over the Labor Day weekend, nearly 60 people were shot, and at least nine people were killed in Chicago. Under Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson, the city experienced 572 homicides in 2024, making it the deadliest U.S. city by total homicides for the 13th consecutive year.
Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker “has repeatedly resisted calls from President Donald J. Trump to ask for assistance in quelling the violence,” The White House noted. Some of Pritzker’s statements have included, “We’ve been trying to prevent crime and it’s been working,” “We have our job, which is to fight violent crime on the streets of our city — and by the way, we’re succeeding,” “National Guard troops or any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency – and there is not,” “Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis,” and “Big cities have crime.”
On Labor Day, Johnson yelled to a crowd, “No federal troops in the city of Chicago. No militarized force in the city of Chicago. We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago.”
“Despite pleas from residents, members of the city council, and even MSNBC, Pritzker is too blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome to take action in the best interest of his constituents and end the bloodshed,” The White House stated. “The Trump Administration’s message to Chicagoans and residents in Democrat-run cities nationwide is simple: you don’t have to live like this.”
On Tuesday, Trump had a succinct response when asked by reporters if he had decided whether to send National Guard troops to Chicago, declaring, “We’re going in. I didn’t say when we’re going in. … This isn’t a political thing. I have an obligation.”
He added that if Pritzker would “call me up, I would love to do it. Now, we’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it. Because I have an obligation to protect this country and that includes Baltimore. … Baltimore’s a very unsafe place.”