President Donald Trump signaled that National Guard troops would be surged to Chicago next as the White House weighs moving beyond its federal takeover of Washington, D.C.
“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out, probably next,” Trump said Friday afternoon during an Oval Office event. “That’ll be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough.”
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Washington, D.C., has limited home rule and is technically overseen by the federal government, which allowed Trump to take over its police department temporarily earlier this month. But for days, the president and his allies have suggested the operation, initiated to combat crime, could expand to cities not under federal control.
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He has deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to patrol the streets of D.C., a tactic he could mirror elsewhere, and did not rule out using “regular” military forces as part of the takeover.
“I really am honored that the National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police,” Trump said at the event, held to announce that the FIFA World Cup draw would be held at the Kennedy Center. “And we haven’t had to bring in the regular military, which we’re willing to do if we have to.”
The president has repeatedly slammed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) as part of a long-running feud with Democratic-led cities over crime, and on Friday, he claimed that the residents of Chicago want federal action.
“African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please President Trump, come to Chicago. Please.’ I did great with the black vote, as you know, and they want something to happen,” Trump said. “So I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
Trump’s comments come one day after he delivered burgers and pizza to law enforcement at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility. Before that, Vice President JD Vance thanked National Guard troops at Union Station in D.C.
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Trump said that he hasn’t spoken to Chicago leaders, but “when we’re ready, we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C. Chicago is very dangerous.”
He has a closer relationship with Eric Adams, the embattled New York City mayor running for another term, but has sparred with Adams’s campaign rival, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.