After D.C. takeover, Trump suggests Chicago is next
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Mayor Johnson has “grave concerns” about President Trump eyeing Chicago for federal crime crackdown
President Trump says Chicago will be his next target for a crackdown on crime. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says sending in the National Guard won’t help. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accuses the president of “an authoritaian power grab of major cities” State Sen. Willie Preston (D-Chicago) says any bid by Trump to send National Guard to Chicago to fight crime would be illegal.. President Donald Trump: “Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out probably next, that’ll be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough” The president met with some of the 2,000 National Guard members currently deployed in D.C. on Thursday night. He called the district “a totally different place” since he deployed troops. The commander-in-chief said no murders have happened since the National. Guard was deployed, and that crime is down 87%.
“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,” Johnson said in a statement.
Gov. JB Pritzker also took to social media to criticize the president, accusing him of “An authoritaian power grab of major cities.”
President Trump singled out Chicago again on Friday, saying the city likely will be his next target for a crackdown on crime, after he deployed nearly 2,000 National Guard members in Washington D.C.
The comment about Chicago came during a press conference on a completely unrelated topic: the FIFA World Cup.
The president was announcing a big FIFA event in D.C., and took a moment to address his decision to deploy the National Guard in the nation’s capital to fight crime.
Mr. Trump said that effort is going so well, he’s ready to repeat the effort in Chicago.
“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out probably next, that’ll 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 come in. They’re wearing red hats, just like this one, but they’re wearing red hats. African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, President 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 our next.”
In a statement, Mayor Johnson said the city takes the president’s statement 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,” Johnson added. “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 made.”
The president met with some of the 2,000 National Guard members currently deployed in D.C. on Thursday night. He called the district “a totally different place” since he deployed troops.
The commander-in-chief said no murders have happened since the National Guard was deployed, and that crime is down 87%, but at least some residents of Washington, D.C., feel the president’s safety concerns are overblown and the troops aren’t necessary.
Contrary to the president’s claim that Chicago is “a mess,” the mayor noted crime is actually down significantly over the past year. Johnson said, in the past in Chicago, homicides have dropped by more than 30%, robberies are down 35&, and shootings are down nearly 40%.
“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.”
Meantime, Illinois State Sen. Willie Preston (D-Chicago), who is running for Congress in 2026, said any bid by Trump to send the National Guard to Chicago to fight crime would be illegal.
“If President Trump makes good on his threat to deploy National Guard troops to our city to perform the functions Constitutionally reserved to state and local law enforcement, it would be an unlawful act of terror against our people,” Preston said. “We can see this rancid use of power against cities like Chicago for what it is, something as old as this nation, the racism we are forced to fight every generation. I urge the president to reconsider. And if he doesn’t, I will join all of Chicago in resistance.”
Trump says Chicago is the likely next target of his efforts to crack down on crime
President Donald Trump says Chicago will likely be the next target of his efforts to crack down on crime, homelessness and illegal immigration. Trump indicated that the Midwestern city could receive similar treatment to what he’s done in Washington, D.C., where he’s deployed 2,000 troops on the streets. The comments came as the Pentagon on Friday began ordering troops in Washington to carry firearms.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday said Chicago will likely be the next target of his efforts to crack down on crime, homelessness and illegal immigration.
Trump indicated that the Midwestern city could receive similar treatment to what he’s done in Washington, D.C., where he’s deployed 2,000 troops on the streets.
“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters at the White House, later adding, “And then we’ll help with New York.”
The comments came as the Pentagon on Friday began ordering troops in Washington to carry firearms, though there have been no overt indications they have faced threats that would require them to carry weapons.
Trump has repeatedly described some of the nation’s largest cities — run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations — as dangerous and filthy.
He singled out Chicago on Friday, calling it a “mess” and saying residents there are “screaming for us to come.”
“We’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this,” Trump said.
The president, who was sitting in the Oval Office and wearing a red hat that said, “Trump Was Right About Everything,” claimed people in Chicago are “wearing red hats just like this one.”
He added, “African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please.’”
Trump suggests Chicago is next for federal crime crackdown, followed by New York City
The president says he’s willing to bring in the “regular military” into the District of Columbia. Mr. Trump also said the federal government may also intervene in San Francisco, among other cities. It’s not yet clear how the government or National Guard would be able to intervene in a city that’s not Washington, D.C. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits military troops from participating in certain civil law enforcement actions, except as expressly authorized by law. The president made the comments in the Oval Office during an announcement about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The remarks were the president’s clearest indication yet that he intends to bring his crusade against crime beyond the corridors of his direct authority in Washington. Mr. Trump also said he’s willing to bring in the “regular military” into the District of Columbia, not just the National Guard, which would be a significant escalation of the president’s use of the military on U.S. soil.
“I really am honored that the National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday. “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, and we’ll make it safe, also.”
“Chicago’s a mess,” he continued. “You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out probably next, that’ll be our next one after this.”
He said “the people in Chicago” are “screaming for us to come.”
“They’re wearing red hats … African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, President 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 our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
“When we’re ready we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.,” the president added.
Mr. Trump said the federal government may also intervene in San Francisco, among other cities.
It’s not yet clear how the federal government or National Guard would be able to intervene in a city that’s not Washington, D.C., where the federal government has unique authority over the district.
State National Guard units are under the control of the governor, not Mr. Trump, and he does not have the power to temporarily take control of city police departments outside of D.C. Illinois, New York and California all have Democratic governors and mayors who would be unlikely to go along with Mr. Trump’s plans. Mr. Trump made the comments in the Oval Office Friday, during an announcement about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits military troops from participating in certain civil law enforcement actions, except as expressly authorized by law.
Chicago is up next for the National Guard. ‘They’re screaming for us,’ says Trump
Trump has singled out Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson before. Johnson told “Democracy Now!” that the city would not “cower or bend or be intimidated by these attempts to divide and conquer our communities” On Aug. 11, Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops in Washington DC, declaring a public safety emergency. Several Republican states including Ohio, Mississippi, West Virginia and Louisiana have sent guardsmen to the capital to support the Trump Administration’s efforts. Since the deployment of the troops, carjackings have decreased by 83%, robberies by 46%, car thefts by 21%, and overall violent crime by 22%.
After the federal takeover of the Washington, DC, police to combat the “crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor,” President Donald Trump has now set his sights on Chicago.
“Chicago’s a mess,” said Trump during a meeting at the Oval Office with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Aug. 22. “You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. We’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this.”
Trump has singled out Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson before. Johnson told “Democracy Now!” that the city would not “cower or bend or be intimidated by these attempts to divide and conquer our communities.”
On Aug. 11, Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops in Washington DC, declaring a public safety emergency. Several Republican states including Ohio, Mississippi, West Virginia and Louisiana have sent guardsmen to the capital to support the Trump Administration’s efforts. The troops are deployed at tourist-heavy locations such as the National Mall and transit hubs such as Union Station and Metro stops to aid local law enforcement.
The people in Chicago “are screaming for us to come,” he said.
“They’re wearing red hats just like this one. But they’re wearing red hats,” he said. “African American ladies, beautiful ladies are saying, please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please.”
After Chicago, Trump said New York will be next to get “help”.
Since the deployment of the troops, carjackings have decreased by 83%, robberies by 46%, car thefts by 21%, and overall violent crime by 22% compared to the previous seven days, according to Metropolitan Police Department’s police union.
Violent crime in Washington, DC, dropped 26% through Aug. 8, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Department. However, the city had the fourth-highest homicide rate among U.S. cities, after St. Louis, New Orleans and Detroit, at 27.3 per 100,000 residents in 2024.
Trump took a victory lap in DC on Aug. 21 and said during a meeting with law enforcement that his actions had made the city “safe.”
Trump suggests Guard troops will be deployed to Chicago next
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways: Chicago, D.C., and the National Guard in Washington, D,C. President Donald Trump signaled he is already looking at sending American military forces to other U.S. cities to help deal with crime issues. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has already been fiercely critical of Trump’s declaration of a state of emergency in Washington and the use of Guard troops there. Roughly 2,000 National Guard troops are currently deployed to Washington,. with about 800 from the city’s ranks of Guardsmen.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Amid controversy over his decision to deploy National Guard troops around Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump on Friday signaled he is already looking at sending American military forces to other U.S. cities to help deal with crime issues.
During an Oval Office press conference, Trump praised the work of National Guard troops around the nation’s capital and said that “after we do this, we’ll go to another location.” He specifically cited Chicago, attacking the mayor for allowing crime rates to rise there.
“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” he said. “Chicago is a mess … Probably that’ll be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough. The people in Chicago, they are screaming for us.”
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Hegseth signs memo authorizing arming of Guard in DC
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has already been fiercely critical of Trump’s declaration of a state of emergency in Washington, D.C., and the use of Guard troops there. Earlier this month, Johnson said his city will not “cower or bend or be intimidated by [Trump’s] attempts to divide and conquer our communities.”
Johnson has said that investment in social services like mental health care and family assistance are making positive changes in Chicago’s crime rate. But Trump — and conservative activists — have pushed for military involvement to clean up what they insist are urban areas on the brink of chaos.
Roughly 2,000 National Guard troops are currently deployed to Washington, D.C., with about 800 from the city’s ranks of Guardsmen. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has publicly objected to the federal takeover.
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“I don’t think the National Guard should be used for law enforcement,” Bowser said during a press conference Monday. “Calling men and women from their homes, their jobs, and their families — they have to be used for mission-specific items that benefit the nation.”
Trump met with dozens of Guardsmen and law enforcement personnel on Thursday, thanking and praising them for their work thus far.
Earlier on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo authorizing Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C., to carry weapons if their mission requires it. Defense Department officials did not say when those service members may be armed and what the impetus for the memo was.