White House defends Trump’s Chicago crime-fighting strategy

CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — The White House is defending President Trump’s comments about sending federal troops to Chicago after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker directed criticism at the president’s proposal on Monday.

“If these Democrats spent half as much time addressing crime in their cities as they did going on cable news to complain about President Trump, their residents would be a lot safer,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said to Fox News Digital.

At a press conference with other Illinois Democrats, Pritzker condemned the Trump administration’s proposed plan to send the National Guard to Chicago to tackle violent crime, patterned after a similar operation in Washington, D.C.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Donald Trump said Chicago would be a likely next target of the administration’s efforts to quell crime, homelessness, and immigration, calling the city “a mess” and Mayor Brandon Johnson “grossly incompetent.”

The White House went on to share a fact sheet containing data showing that Chicago has the most murders of any U.S. city.

Trump on Monday told reporters, “We want to go from [Washington D.C.] to other places. But I was, I was telling some of the people that in a certain way, you really want to be asked to go. You know, I hate to barge in on a city and then be treated horribly by corrupt politicians and bad politicians.”

Pritkzer’s office responded, saying, “Contrary to Trump’s claims portraying crime as out of control, crime in Chicago is declining. The city is on pace for the lowest number of homicides in decades, driven in part by community-based programs and strategic investments in evidence-based policy.”

Chicago shared its own fact sheet with data showing a reduction in violent crime and homicides during the time Johnson has served as mayor.

“In contrast to the declines in violent crime in Illinois and Chicago, a number of Republican-led states continue to see a high level of violent crime. Yet, the Trump Administration ignores these crime levels, undermining their public safety claims,” Pritzker’s office said in a statement.

“While Illinois has driven crime down through smart investments and reform, Trump has ignored persistently high crime in states run by Republican Governors to only further create fear and chaos. Several Republican-led states are experiencing far higher levels of violent crime,” the statement continued.

“According to the latest CDC data, in 2023, eight of the 10 states with the highest homicides rates were led by Republican governors. In fact, Mississippi recorded homicide rates nearly double those of Illinois. If Illinois had the same murder rate as Mississippi, the state’s homicide totals would be thousands higher each year.

“The same can be said for deaths by firearms, where nine of the top 10 states with the highest rate of death by firearms include Mississippi and Louisiana, each having more than double Illinois’ rate,” the statement continued.

The CDC listed Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alaska, and Illinois as the top states by homicide rate.

However, while Pritzker highlighted homicide rates in Republican-led states, the urban centers driving those rates, such as Jackson, Mississippi, St. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee, are led by Democrat mayors.

According to a Wirepoints study, 26 of the 30 cities with the highest homicide rates in the U.S. are governed by Democratic mayors.