(The Hill) On Friday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) responded to President Donald Trump’s threats concerning Chicago in the wake of the administration’s recent crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.
“As Trump attempts to sow chaos to deflect attention from his issues, we’ll label it for what it is,” Pritzker detailed in an extensive thread on the social platform X. “Trump and the Republicans aim to divert focus from the harm they cause, from rising prices due to tariffs to stripping away healthcare and food from millions.”
“After experimenting with authoritarian measures in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Trump is now openly contemplating taking control over other cities and states,” Pritzker continued in a follow-up post. This came shortly after Trump’s remarks targeting Chicago during a White House address.
The Democratic governor further stated, “Trump’s objective is to provoke fear in our communities, undermining current public safety efforts to create a pretext for further misuse of power. He’s orchestrating a scenario, making a spectacle that the media will follow.”
Pritzker wrote in another post, “We don’t play those games. Our commitment to law and order is delivering results.”
On Friday, Trump told a group of reporters that Chicago was proposed as the next city for intervention, just a little over a week after initiating the Washington campaign.
“Chicago’s in disarray. You have an incompetent mayor. Extremely incompetent, and we’ll likely address that next,” he announced. “That will be after this project. It won’t even be difficult.”
In lieu of Trump’s claim, Pritzker said the city’s crime rates are down.
“Crime rates are improving. Homicides are down by more than 30 percent in Chicago in the last year alone,” he wrote online.
The Illinois leader’s comments echo those from D.C. Mayor Murial Bowser (D), who urged the Trump administration to acknowledge local police statistics stating crime in Washington was at a 30-year low. However, administration officials accused city leaders of manipulating the numbers and the Justice Department (DOJ) launched an investigation into the data.
The president has also deployed National Guard troops to assist with DOJ’s takeover of the local police department under the district’s Home Rule Act. Soldiers have been lent by at least five states to conduct nightly patrols and create checkpoints as federal agents aid in immigration enforcement.
Washingtonians have shared sharp objections to the increased presence of soldiers and federal officials. In light of Trump’s threat, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) raised similar concerns.
“We take President Trump’s statements seriously, but to be clear the City has not received any formal communication from the Trump administration regarding additional federal law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago,” Johnson said in a Friday statement.
“Certainly, we have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago,” he continued. “The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.”
Johnson and Trump clashed earlier this year when DOJ launched a May investigation into the city over its hiring practices. The Chicago mayor accused the president of targeting Black led cities.
