(The Lion) — President Donald Trump ramped up his calls for sending federal assistance to Chicago following another violent weekend that left at least 54 people shot and eight dead, promising he could “solve the crime problem fast” by deploying National Guard troops.
“We’re going in,” he told reporters in the White House on Tuesday. “I didn’t say when, but we’re going in.”
The remarks followed a series of scathing social media posts in which Trump called the Windy City the “worst and most dangerous city in the world, by far” and urged Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, to accept his help in reducing the city’s crime.
“Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. “I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in D.C.
“Chicago will be safe again, and soon.”
He followed up with a separate Truth Social post calling Chicago the “murder capital of the world.”
The statements mark Trump’s attempt to escalate his campaign to intervene in crime-ridden cities across the nation, following his deployment of the National Guard in D.C. to crack down on crime. Trump has praised Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. for her cooperation with the federal government, in contrast with other Democrat leaders.
On Monday, Trump said Bowser has “become very popular” because of her work with the Trump administration on bringing down D.C. crime.
“Her statements and actions were positive, instead of others like Pritzker, Wes Moore, Newscum, and the 5% approval rated Mayor of Chicago, who spend all of their time trying to justify violent Crime, instead of working with us to completely ELIMINATE it, which we have done in Washington, D.C., NOW A CRIME FREE ZONE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to say that about Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and even the Crime Drenched City of Baltimore?”
Pritzker, for his part, has insisted Chicago doesn’t need military intervention. He has told Trump that “Chicago doesn’t want you here,” and said on CBS’s Face the Nation sending federal troops to the city would be an “invasion.”
“He wakes up in the morning and whatever whim strikes him is what he apparently says, and recently I guess I’ve been living rent free in his head,” Pritzker said in response to Trump calling Chicago a “killing field” and a “hellhole,” adding Trump ignores crime in Republican-led states.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also has staunchly rejected assistance from the federal government. “No federal troops in the city of Chicago,” he told protesters on Monday. “No militarized force in the city of Chicago.”
Despite the resistance from the city and state’s Democratic leadership, Trump’s offer has found support from some local law enforcement.
“Crime is down. The murderous mindset is not,” the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police posted on social media. “Just like that the numbers can explode. Until we have MORE cops, some federal help is welcome and appreciated.”
