President Trump said Friday the federal government would turn its attention to Chicago next to try to crack down on crime after surging law enforcement and deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C.
“After we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe also,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” Trump added. “Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent and we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”
Trump said there were “African American ladies, beautiful ladies,” urging him to intervene in Chicago, a city that has long struggled with gun violence. He indicated his administration would focus next on Chicago before turning to others, such as New York City.
City data has shown that fatal and nonfatal shootings in Chicago are down from recent years, part of a broader trend of violent crime decreasing nationwide.
The Trump administration earlier this month began surging federal law enforcement across parts of the District to crack down on what the White House said was an unacceptable level of crime, despite statistics showing violent crime has declined in the city.
Last week, Trump took federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed hundreds of National Guard troops across the city to further the crackdown on crime.
It’s unclear how Trump would enact a similar effort in another city. He cannot seize control of a local police department outside of Washington, D.C., where home rule laws give the federal government greater authority. And Illinois officials have pushed back against suggestions that Trump might send in the National Guard.
Critics of Trump’s aggressive crackdown across D.C. have pointed to statistics that show the city’s violent crime rate fell in 2024 and is down again 2025. There are also signs that it is as much about immigration enforcement as it is about addressing crime.
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