President Donald Trump on Saturday sharpened his criticism of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), blasting Chicago’s violent crime crisis and signaling that federal support could be on the way.
“Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME. He is CRAZY!!! He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming! MAGA. President DJT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The rebuke follows weeks of rising tension between the White House and Illinois officials over crime and immigration enforcement. Just earlier this month, Trump federalized the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, and paired that with a National Guard deployment. The result was undeniable: violent crime in the nation’s capital plummeted, including a 50 percent drop in homicides in just 11 days.
Now Chicago could be next. Trump has repeatedly described the city as a “mess” and says residents themselves are asking for federal help. “We’ll straighten that one out, probably next,” he remarked at a recent Oval Office event. For countless families in the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods, those words can’t come soon enough.
But Pritzker has doubled down, calling Trump’s posture “authoritarian overreach” and warning Illinois “would not stand idly by” if the National Guard arrived. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) echoed that line, arguing the administration’s actions show “a disdain for working people.” Instead of backing more policing, Johnson has touted social spending programs—from youth jobs and mental health services to housing projects—as the key to reducing crime.
Just this weekend, Johnson escalated the fight by signing an executive order barring Chicago police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, even going so far as to forbid officers from assisting in patrols, checkpoints, or traffic stops tied to federal operations. He claimed the move was necessary to “protect residents’ constitutional rights” and insisted Trump was “behaving outside the bounds of the Constitution.”
Meanwhile, Trump officials are eyeing Chicago’s Great Lakes Naval Station as a staging point for upcoming immigration sweeps. Democrats, including former Biden cabinet member Pete Buttigieg, rushed to condemn the plan. Buttigieg wrote on X that “our military was not set up to cater to the whims of a would-be American dictator.” Activists quickly piled on, accusing Trump of waging a “war on American cities.”
Yet on the ground, frustration is growing. Many residents say they are tired of political games while crime continues to ravage their communities. Businessman and former mayoral candidate Dr. Willie Wilson broke with city leaders, welcoming federal support and insisting public safety must come before partisanship.
The contrast is clear: while Chicago’s political class digs in against federal intervention, those living with the consequences of lawlessness are desperate for order and relief. Trump’s message—that Washington can and should restore safety where local leaders refuse—will resonate with millions of Americans who know that without law and order, no community can truly thrive.
