Illinois leaders push back as President Trump hints at sending National Guard to Chicago for crime crackdown

CHICAGO — President Donald Trump signaled Friday that Chicago could be the next city to see federal troops amid his push to crack down on crime across the country.

During an Oval Office press conference on Friday, the president met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss the upcoming 2026 World Cup, which is set to take place in the United States.

During the meeting, Trump shifted the focus of the discussion to his recent attempts to crack down on crime in Washington, DC.

In recent weeks, the president deployed National Guard troops in an attempt to crack down on crime, a plan he has since boasted as a major success.

But during Friday’s press conference, Trump eventually narrowed his sights on Chicago, signaling his willingness to deploy troops to the Windy City.

“The National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police, and we haven’t had to bring in the regular military, which we’re willing to do if we have to and after we do this, we’ll go to another location, we’re going to make our country very safe, make our cities very, very safe,” Trump said.

Trump’s order to send troops to Los Angeles is currently at the center of a legal challenge, and it’s likely it would be the same it it were to be attempted in Chicago.

Trump went on to call Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “grossly incompetent, and said residents in the city are “screaming” for him to bring in federal help.

“Chicago is a mess, you have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent and we will straighten that one out next. That will be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come. They are wearing Red hats, just like this one, but they are wearing red hats,” Trump said. “African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, Mr. Trump, come to Chicago, please.’ I did great with the Black vote as you know and they want something to happen. So, I think Chicago will be next and then we’ll help with New York.”

Despite claims of outrageous crime, Chicago saw a significant decline in violent crime during the first half of the year. Some local lawmakers are calling Trump’s actions a political stunt.

“This is the second time he’s made such a threat. The first time, I didn’t take it seriously; I thought it was just bluster,” Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) said. “Now he’s bringing it up again, we’re starting to get concerned that he may intend to do something like this. It would be illegal, ill-advised, unconstitutional and unwelcomed.”

Hopkins says he believes the president instead should consider giving a federal Homeland Security Grant to hire 2,000 officers, specifically Chicagoans who know the city.

Johnson believes a National Guard deployment to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement.

He says the federal government could help address areas of investment they’re already working on, like housing, community safety and education, and sending in the National Guard won’t do that.

“Here’s the bottom line: as mayor of this city, and mayors across this country, we know exactly what it takes to drive down violence and crime in our cities because we’re actually doing it. The City of Chicago has experienced unprecedented levels of violence reduction,” Johnson said. “It’s really a shame quite frankly, and offensive that this president who speaks in the name of law and order would do the opposite.”

Johnson says he takes this threat seriously but that the city has not received any formal communication from the Trump administration regarding additional law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago.

Johnson released the following statement in response to Trump’s comments:

“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. Certainly, we have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago. The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound. Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities. An unlawful deployment would be unsustainable and would threaten to undermine the historic progress we have. In the past year alone, we have reduced homicides by more than 30%, robberies by 35%, and shootings by almost 40%. We need to continue to invest in what is working.  

We know that our communities are safest when we fully invest in housing, community safety, and education. The National Guard will not alleviate the housing crisis. It will not put food in the stomachs of the 1 in 4 children that go to bed hungry every night in Chicago. The National Guard will not fully-fund our public schools or provide mental healthcare or substance abuse treatment to Chicagoans in need. The National Guard is no substitute for dedicated local law enforcement and community violence interrupters who know and serve our communities every day. There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them.” 

Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says this is a way for Trump to “create chaos that distracts from his problems.” His full statement reads:

“As Donald Trump attempts to create chaos that distracts from his problems, we will call it out for what it is. Trump and Republicans are trying to distract from the pain they are causing working families–from tariffs raising the prices of everyday goods to stripping away healthcare and food from millions of Americans.

After using Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. as his testing ground for authoritarian overreach, Trump is now openly flirting with the idea of taking over other states and cities. Trump’s goal is to incite fear in our communities and destabilize existing public safety efforts — all to create a justification to further abuse his power. He is playing a game and creating a spectacle for the press to play along with.

We don’t play those games in Illinois. Our commitment to law and order is delivering real results. Crime rates are improving. Homicides are down by more than 30% in Chicago in the last year alone. ​ Our progress in lowering crime has been made possible with community violence intervention programs that the Trump Administration is defunding.


Our state and local law enforcement partners know our neighborhoods and our streets because they live here too. They are not asking for this and we will continue to listen and coordinate with them, as we always do. The safety of the people of Illinois is my highest priority, so we will follow the law and stand up for the sovereignty of our state.”