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Chicago’s Mayor, Brandon Johnson, has vowed to protect his city against what he describes as Donald Trump’s ‘authoritarianism’ following a social media post by Trump, in which he threatened to deploy military forces to Illinois’s biggest city.
Johnson, elected mayor in 2023 as a progressive, has been advocating for his fellow Democrats to take a more aggressive posture against Trump.
‘The President’s threats dishonor our nation, but in truth, he aims to occupy our city and violate our Constitution,’ Johnson shared on X.
‘We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.’
In his post, Johnson showcased a screenshot of Trump’s message on Truth Social, featuring an image of Trump donning a cowboy hat amidst explosions and military helicopters, captioned ‘Chipocalypse Now.’
‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.’
The line is a reference the movie Apocalypse Now when the character says, ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning.’
Trump rebranded the Department of Defense to the Department of War this week. That name was last used for a comparable agency in 1947.
Trump’s warning to Chicago came ahead of expected Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post threatening to bring the military into Chicago
Donald Trump, aged 79, used his Truth Social platform on Saturday to share a meme about himself, stating: ‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago is about to learn why it’s known as the Department of WAR.’
His threat comes as ICE readies a raid on the Windy City after Trump said he’d selected it for the next federal military takeover
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker responded to Trump’s post on X, expressing: ‘The President of the United States is threatening war against an American city.’
‘This is not a joke. This is not normal.
‘Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.’
ICE is reportedly readying operations in the Windy City after Trump said he selected it for the next federal military takeover.
The Department of Homeland Security has approached the Pentagon for permission to utilize Naval Station Great Lakes, the largest military base in Illinois, as an operational base, according to a Washington Post report.
The request said that around 250 federal agents and 140 vehicles would utilize the base.
National Guard troops could also be sent in to assist the effort, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
Equipment and personnel started arriving at the naval base earlier this week. One MAGA radio personality has branded it the beginning of ‘the siege of Chicago.’
Governor JB Pritzker warned the raids could start on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Pritzker accused Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller of choosing to target Chicago in September because the city hosts a myriad of events for Mexican Independence Day.
‘We have reason to believe that Stephen Miller chose the month of September of come to Chicago because of celebrations around Mexican Independence Day that happen here every day,’ Pritzker said.
Governor J.B. Pritzker warned the raids could start on Saturday
Miller is the administration’s top immigration hardliner, the architect of the first Trump administration’s controversial child separation policy.
‘It breaks my heart to report that we have been told ICE will try and disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades,’ the governor continued. ‘Let’s be clear: the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here.’
On Thursday, El Grito Chicago organizers scrapped a planned two-day festival over ICE raid fears.
The city’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson is resisting the federal action.
Last weekend, he signed an executive order that, among other things, bars law enforcement from wearing face masks, as ICE agents have done in other US cities.
Johnson and Pritzker are sticking with the state’s sanctuary city policies that ban local law enforcement from helping ICE agents, unless they have a criminal warrant.
On Thursday, the mayor encouraged Chicagoans to still celebrate Mexican Independence Day.
‘Why would I ask you to stay home?’ he asked. ‘Why would we allow someone who is auditioning to become a dictator of democracy to intimidate the soul of America, the city of Chicago? We should celebrate.’
The president claims that sending in the National Guard is helping the Democratic cities’ crime problem.
The National Guard deployment in DC came hand-in-hand with ICE raids in the city.
On Thursday, DC’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit arguing the more than 1,000 troops now deployed to the capital are an illegal use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
‘No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation,’ Schwalb said.
Two weeks ago, Trump revealed that after Washington, DC, Chicago was his next pick for a troop deployment.
‘When we’re ready, we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago, just like we did DC,’ Trump said in the Oval Office at a World Cup event.
‘Chicago is 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.
‘And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to go. They’re wearing red hats, just like this one. But they’re wearing red hats,’ Trump told Vice President JD Vance, who was standing alongside him.
‘African-American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying: “Please, President Trump, come to Chicago,”‘ the president continued.
He added that he did ‘great’ with the black vote.
‘So I think Chicago will be our next and then we’ll help with New York,’ he said.
