Donald Trump on Monday deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington. Image: The Hindu.
(The Post News) – During a press conference on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to move forward with deploying the National Guard to Chicago to crack down on crime. He boldly declares, “We’re going in,” despite major pushback from state and Chicago officials.
In the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that he has an “obligation to protect this country,” and therefore, at some point, he plans to send troops into the nation’s third-largest city to tackle surging crime rates. The President’s remarks follow a social media post describing Chicago as the “MURDER CAPITAL OF THE ”WORLD!”—eventhough police statistics show the city recorded its lowest homicide rate in the past five decades.
Trump praised Mayor Muriel Bowser and the National Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C., for helping stabilize the city and making it a “safe zone” in August 2025, insisting that similar federal intervention could be effective in Chicago and other Democrat-run states. He encourages the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, to make the call to him but insists that even if he doesn’t call, the operation will continue, adding, “We have the right to do it.”
Pritzker later addressed reporters, saying he finds his comments on television “extraordinarily strange,” as he had expressed times before that Chicago does not want or need troops. He sternly added, “I’ve made that clear already.”
Chicago to Sue Trump’s Unlawful Troops Deployment
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul warned that the state and city would take legal action once federal troops are deployed without congressional authorization, as California Governor Gavin Newsom had done after Trump unlawfully deployed troops in LA to deal with what started as immigration protests. On 2 September, the federal court ruled in his favor, barring the Pentagon from deploying the National Guard to perform police officer duties. The Trump administration has until September 12 to appeal.
Trump’s efforts, he suggested, will not stop in Chicago, as he also mentioned plans for Baltimore. However, he is likely to face resistance there as well, with local officials and Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore already coordinating in opposition.
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