On Monday, President Donald Trump referred to Chicago as a “killing field,” despite the fact that homicides in Chicago have fallen by over 30% compared to the previous year.

Residents of Chicago are divided over whether Trump’s suggestion to send federal troops to the city is necessary. However, political figures like Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson clearly oppose Trump’s proposed plans for the city.

Trump has mentioned possibly deploying National Guard troops to Chicago, echoing his recent actions in Washington, D.C. Nonetheless, Chicago’s Democratic mayor and Illinois’s governor believe that the city doesn’t require troops, highlighting that homicides have decreased by 31%, shooting incidents by 36%, and other crimes such as robbery, burglary, and car theft by 21% to 36%, according to data from the Chicago Police Department.

Even with the reported drop in violent crimes, crime still poses a challenge in Chicago, with smaller offenses like a recent smash-and-grab burglary at a Foot Locker store causing concern among business owners and locals.

In addition to the recent Foot Locker break-ins, a Nordstrom store in Chicago’s River North area was also targeted over the weekend. Chicago police have also alerted South Side residents to be vigilant following a series of 16 home intrusions targeting elderly individuals.

Mayor Johnson has labeled Trump’s proposal to bring troops to Chicago as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution, deeming it illegal. On Monday, Johnson emphasized that while significant progress in enhancing Chicago’s safety is being made, there is no intention to become complacent.

Donald Trump’s National Guard threats are “unAmerican”, Pritzker says

Pritzker, whom Trump referred to as a “slob,” called Trump’s characterization of what is happening in Chicago as “manufactured.”

“This is exactly the type of overreach that our country’s founders warned against,” Pritzker said on Monday, adding, “What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is un-American.”

He added, “There is not an emergency in the city of Chicago. There is nothing that calls for having troops on the streets of Chicago.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said on Monday that officials with the National Guard said that they have not been contacted by the Trump administration about being deployed to Chicago.

Pritzker said that no one from the White House or the Trump administration has reached out to him or to Johnson and said the state and city have made no requests for federal intervention.

“This is not about fighting crime,” the governor said. “This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the national military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try to intimidate his political rivals.”

Pritzker said he is speaking out as a way of telling Trump that his proposed deployment will make local officials’ job harder and the lives of residents’ worse.

“I say, ‘Mr. President, do not come to Chicago,” Pritzker said, adding that if the city and state needed federal assistance, officials would ask for it.

Johnson said Chicago is being targeted by Trump “because of who and what we represent.” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said his office will use every legal tool to prevent the unlawful deployment of troops to Chicago, which he characterized as “immoral and dangerous.”

“I can tell you that Chicagoans are not calling for a military occupation,” Johnson said. “They are calling for the same thing we have been calling for for some time. And that’s investment.”

Chicagoans have mixed feelings about Donald Trump’s plans

But as elected officials continue to dispute the need for the presence of troops on Chicago streets, residents are split on what they say is needed.

Imani Williams told that she just lost a friend during a deadly mass shooting and that her child’s father has also been shot over the past two years. She said that she has experienced grief, emotional distress and pain due to the ongoing violence in Chicago.

“I think (Trump) needs to send them right away,” Williams told . “It’s just a lot going on, and it’s like, the people are against the police, and we need to bring reinforcements in to establish law and order because it’s crazy out here.”

Others disagree.

“There’s crime all over. It’s not just Chicago,” Chicagoan Joanne Johnson told . “But I don’t think it’s something that deserves the National Guard being here. I think that’s ridiculous, and I think it’s all political.”

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told on Monday that he believes city officers “are OK” with National Guard troops being sent in “as long as it’s done in a proper way.”

“If President Trump is truly thinking of helping the city of Chicago, as well as other places around the country, that’s fine,” Johnson said. “But you have to have the local jurisdictions direct the way in which the federal people are deployed.”

Johnson added that local citizens want to be safe, but “safe in the right way.”

“You start to use and utilize military to start to patrol the streets of your city, then you’re going to have a problem with the community at large because there’s a lot of effort put forth to repair that relationship (between residents and law enforcement) and just putting armed military on the streets won’t do the trick. It just won’t,” he said.

Johnson is not the only former city official who has addressed Trump’s threats.

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote on X that Trump is using the threat of sending troops to Chicago as a “distraction game” and that Chicagoans “don’t take well to being threatened.”

“Keep Chicago out of your mouth,” Lightfoot wrote.