Donald Trump is once again setting his sights on Chicago, and city officials are not having it. On Friday, the president announced that the Windy City may be the next target of his controversial “crime crackdown,” echoing his recent move in Washington, D.C., where 2,000 troops have already been deployed.
“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters from the White House, before adding ominously, “And then we’ll help with New York.” The timing raised eyebrows, especially since the Pentagon just ordered troops in Washington to carry firearms, despite no evidence of imminent threats.
For years, Trump has painted Democratic-led cities, particularly those with Black mayors and majority-minority populations, as “dangerous and filthy.” On Friday, he singled out Chicago, calling it a “mess” and insisting that residents are “screaming for us to come,” even though the city has actually seen a good drop in violent crime.
But Chicago’s leaders aren’t welcoming the idea. Mayor Brandon Johnson blasted Trump’s comments, saying his office had received no formal communication from the administration. “We have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops,” Johnson warned. He slammed Trump’s approach as “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound,” warning it could “inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker mocked Trump’s claim that Chicagoans are “begging” for help. In a blistering post on X titled “Things People are Begging For,” Pritzker listed cheaper groceries, protection for Medicaid, and the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s federal files. What they were not asking for, he wrote, was “an authoritarian power grab of major cities.”
Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, called Trump’s D.C. troop deployment nothing more than “political theater.” He reminded the country that “Chicago is a beautiful, vibrant city with people from all walks of life” and argued for “proven bipartisan solutions” to cut crime further. Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Army National Guard combat veteran, was even sharper. She accused Trump of misusing the military to “intimidate Americans in our own communities.”
’STAY OUT OF OUR CITY’: Chicago officials slam Trump’s threat to target city in next crime crackdown https://t.co/Ib0JBPpGQk pic.twitter.com/I9gBTJGUy2
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) August 23, 2025
Democratic Party of Illinois chair Lisa Hernandez also denounced the remarks, calling them “offensive and false,” while highlighting how Trump’s rhetoric plays into “a history of racist narratives about urban crime.” She added flatly: “Chicagoans are not begging for him.” Even Trump’s son weighed in. In an interview with Newsmax, Donald Trump Jr. took aim at cities in the Pacific Northwest, sneering, “Maybe we should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle, the other craphole cities of the country.”
But the facts in Chicago tell a very different story. City data shows shootings and homicides plummeted by more than 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to last year. Total violent crime dropped by over 22% — the steepest decline in more than a decade.
Mayor Johnson credited the turnaround to heavy investments in housing, community safety, mental health services, and education. He said if Trump truly wanted to help, he could start by restoring the $158 million cut from violence-prevention programs. “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. On the ground, local voices echoed that sentiment.
Pastor Donovan Price, who works closely with gun violence victims, delivered the sharpest message of all: “Stay out of our city. This is not a federal issue. We live this every day. We know what our community needs.”
