CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pushed back Monday on a threat by President Donald Trump to deploy federal troops in Chicago to fight crime, calling it “unconstitutional and unamerican,” and designed more for theater than public safety.
Pritzker, speaking at a news conference along with top Democratic officials from across the state and with the iconic Chicago skyline in the background, said there is no justification for Trump to use soldiers to patrol the city.
“We have crime like other cities do, but let’s be clear, we are actually in better shape than the 30 biggest cities across the United States,” the governor said. “It’s important to understand that the president of the United States is doing this for theatrics.”
Pritzker’s comments came hours after Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, renewed his threat to make Chicago the next focus of his effort to draw public attention to crime even as violent incidents fall back to pre-pandemic levels throughout the nation.
No request for federal assistance has been made, Pritzker said — nor has any communication come from the Trump administration.
“No one from the White House or the executive branch has reached out to me or to the mayor,” the governor said. “No one has reached out to our staffs. No effort has been made to coordinate or to ask for our assistance in identifying any actions that might be helpful to us.”
While most officials in a state dominated by Democrats agree with Pritzker, the leader of the Chicago Police union, John Catanzara, told POLITICO that the department is short 1,000 officers and could use reinforcements. “More manpower is still needed,” he said.
The governor, who arrived by water taxi to emphasize the city’s vibrancy and beauty, made his remarks days after Trump floated the idea of federal intervention in Chicago.
“If we need to, we’re going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster,” Trump said at a White House briefing last week, referencing prior National Guard deployments. On Monday, Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric, suggesting the federal government may need to “barge in” on Illinois.
Pritzker, who was joined by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and numerous city and state officials, civic and faith leaders, said Illinois has the authority and the resolve to block any attempt to override local control.
They vowed to fight any National Guard action in the courts, and they urged protests to be peaceful.
Johnson echoed Pritzker in criticizing Trump’s motives. The mayor noted that crime was on the decline in Chicago, down more than 30 percent. “We are being targeted because of who we are as a city,” said Johnson, pointing to Chicago’s progressive roots in labor and immigration.
Chicago Alderwoman Samantha Nugent, who previously worked with the Cook County Department of Homeland Security, said she’s concerned that the National Guard potentially converging in Chicago would only create confusion because there would be a question about “who’s controlling the mission.” The Chicago Police superintendent is in charge of the chain of command, not the Guard, she said.
The high-profile press conference followed Johnson speaking out against Trump over the weekend, telling MSNBC that if the president moves ahead with his threat, it would be a “flagrant violation of our Constitution.”
Over the weekend, former Chicago mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot also criticized Trump.
“When you look at what he did in D.C., he’s not going to actually deal with crime,” Emanuel said on CNN. “This is an attempt to deal with cities that are welcoming cities, known as sanctuary cities, and deal with immigration.”
Trump also said a group of African American “ladies” are “screaming” for the Trump administration to address violence in Chicago. It was an apparent reference to Chicago Flips Red, whose members have criticized Johnson’s handling of the large influx of migrants who needed housing and other services during the Biden administration.
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