Political stand-off in US intensifies over Trump’s plan for Chicago crackdown
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaking at a press conference in Chicago, the US, on Aug 25.
PHOTO: JAMIE KELTER DAVIS/NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON – A political stand-off over US President Donald Trump’s plan to crack down on crime and illegal immigration in Chicago intensified on Aug 31 as a top administration official promised to deploy more federal officers and the Democratic governor of Illinois portrayed Mr Trump as a threat to democracy.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS News’ Face The Nation that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago and other parts of the country would be bolstered, but declined to provide details. Ms Noem said Mr Trump would make any decision to deploy National Guard troops.
On the same programme, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Mr Trump wanted to deploy troops so that he could halt or manipulate US midterm elections in 2026.
“He’d like to stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections,” Mr Pritzker said. “He’ll just claim that there’s some problem with an election, and then he’s got troops on the ground that can take control.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticised Mr Pritzker for not doing more to deal with crime.
“Chicago’s residents would be much safer if Pritzker actually did his job and addressed his crime problem instead of trying to be a Resistance Lib hero,” Ms Jackson said in a statement.
Mr Trump and top officials have said in the past week that Chicago would soon be a target for the Republican president’s efforts to tackle crime and illegal immigration. Mr Trump for years has criticised crime in Chicago, a Democratic stronghold, although city figures show most categories of violent crime have dropped in 2025.
Earlier in August, Mr Trump kicked off an aggressive public safety campaign
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, issued an executive order on Aug 30 that said local police would not assist with National Guard or other federal operations.
Ms Noem said on Aug 31 that Mr Trump’s decision to send thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June following protests saved that Democrat-led city from being decimated.
“LA wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action,” Ms Noem said. “That city would have burned down if left to the devices of the mayor and the governor of that state.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said at the time that the decision was “purposefully inflammatory”.
Reuters reported previously that as Mr Trump began his push to send the National Guard and Marines to US cities, military leaders privately questioned whether the troops had received proper training and warned of the “far-reaching social, political and operational”
