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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker blasted President Donald Trump as a “wannabe dictator” Monday, accusing him of trying to “occupy” Chicago with National Guard troops after reports the White House is preparing a possible deployment as soon as September.
The Democrat railed against a Washington Post report detailing the potential move, warning that Trump was escalating rhetoric against Chicago and its leaders over crime.
“This is exactly the type of overreach that our country’s founders warned against,” Pritzker said at a press conference in front of Trump Tower in downtown Chicago.
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“What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American.”
Pritzker vowed to fight the move in court, accusing Trump of trying to occupy a U.S. city for political gain.
“Go talk to the people of Chicago who are enjoying a gorgeous afternoon in this city… ask if they want their neighborhoods turned into a war zone by a wannabe dictator,” Pritzker said, flanked by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other local officials.
“Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city, punish his dissidents and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is – a dangerous power grab.”
The Democrat said Trump was trying to militarize a blue state while simultaneously slashing $800 million in federal crime prevention grants. Most of the grants were headed to nonprofits and local community groups, not to police departments or federal law enforcement.
Pritzker said that crime rates are down in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, and that Trump’s narrative of the city being engulfed in crime is manufactured.
For instance, he said that murders are down 32% compared to last year and nearly cut in half since 2021.
“You are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker added. “We will see the Trump administration in court. We will use every lever at our disposal to protect the people of Illinois and their rights.”
Hours earlier Trump suggested he would prefer to be “asked” before sending troops. He has been floating the idea of deploying the National Guard in Chicago, replicating operations in Washington, D.C., which has also seen the federal government take control of the local police. More than 1,000 arrests have been made and the capital has gone 11 days straight without a homicide, according to the latest figures.
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National Guard units sent without state approval are generally restricted to defending federal property and personnel. When Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles in June over anti-ICE protests, they were confined to federal buildings and escort duties for immigration agents. In Washington, D.C., which is under federal jurisdiction, Guard units have conducted armed patrols alongside local police.
“In a certain way, you really want to be asked to go,” Trump told reporters, before taking a jab at Pritzker: “He has to spend more time in the gym.”
Trump continued his attacks on Pritzker and ripped the Windy City’s crime record.
“I’m thinking about you know, when I have some slob like Pritzker criticizing us before we even go there. I made the statement that next year be Chicago because, as you all know, Chicago’s a killing field right now and they don’t acknowledge it. And they say, we don’t need him.”
Chicago recorded 573 homicides in 2024, marking the 13th straight year Chicago has led the nation in total murders, according to Chicago Police Department data compiled by Wirepoints.
According to the Council on Criminal Justice’s year-end 2024 update, aggravated assaults declined by 4% compared to 2023 but remained 4% higher than in 2019, gun assaults fell 15% though they were still 5% above 2019 levels, and carjackings dropped 32% year-over-year yet were 25% higher than in 2019.
Meanwhile, Johnson echoed Pritzker’s defiance, insisting Chicagoans don’t want a “military occupation.”
“We believe that you don’t solve crime by sending in the military,” Johnson said. “The last thing that Chicagoans want is someone from the outside of our city who doesn’t know our city, trying to dictate and tell us what our city needs.”
Johnson called the plan “a stunt,” saying Trump’s targeting of Chicago is rooted in racism.
“We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence. We’ve already tried that, and we’ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence,” Johnson said.
“The addiction on jails and incarceration in this country. We have moved past that. It is racist. It is immoral. It is unholy. And it is not the way to drive violence down.”
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