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More details of President Donald Trump’s potential deployment of additional National Guard troops to Chicago could come into focus this week.
The move comes as the Trump administration doubles down on its tough-on-crime agenda, seeking a larger federal footprint in Democrat-led cities, drawing pushback from local leaders who contend the move is political.
TRUMP VOWS TO MAKE DC ‘SAFER’ AND ‘BEAUTIFUL’ AS CAPITAL BATTLES CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS
On Friday, Trump said he would address crime in other major U.S. cities, describing D.C. as a “hellhole” before federal law enforcement and more than 2,200 National Guard members were mobilized to patrol the city’s streets. “Now it’s safe,” the president said a day after visiting with deployed troops in the capital.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week that more than 700 arrests have been made in D.C. since Aug. 11.
Trump said he would expand security efforts to other major U.S. cities across the country, singling out Chicago but offering few specifics.
“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent,” Trump said on Friday, adding that the Windy City will “be our next one after this,” a reference to the current security presence in Washington.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said in a statement on Friday that his city has yet to receive details about additional federal law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago. He called the Trump administration’s efforts “uncoordinated, uncalled-for and unsound.”
CHICAGO MAYOR SLAMS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT PLAN
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement Saturday that he has also not heard from the federal government and noted that his state has not requested security assistance.
Chicago, home to about 2.7 million people, has topped the nation in homicides for 13 straight years, logging 573 in 2024 alone, according to the city’s own figures.
It is not immediately clear what the size and scope of the potential deployment in Chicago will be, or when it might begin.
Over the weekend, Trump threatened to send the National Guard to Baltimore following an invitation from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to attend a public safety walk and learn about the security needs.
“As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. He added that he could deploy National Guard members to Maryland in order to “quickly clean up the crime.” The president added that he did not appreciate the tone of Moore’s Aug. 21 invitation.
TRUMP SAYS HE COULD SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD TO MARYLAND TO ADDRESS CRIME
Earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled out plans to curb crime and the growing homeless population in the nation’s capital.
“The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the crime numbers get worse, and the city only gets dirtier and less attractive. The American public is not going to put up with it any longer,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Aug. 10.
Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post that he wants the homeless to “immediately” move “far from” the nation’s capital. “The criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” he wrote in the same post, adding that the new crackdowns on both issues are “going to happen very fast.”
“There will be no “MR. NICE GUY.” We want our Capital BACK,” Trump wrote, adding that more details on these efforts will be laid out during a press conference on Monday.
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