President Donald Trump is once again putting Chicago’s crime crisis on the national stage, saying last week that he is prepared to send in the National Guard if Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson continue to refuse to get crime under control.
Trump called Chicago a “death trap,“ pointing to its long history of violent crime.
Trump highlighted a recent weekend when more than 50 people were shot and several were killed, arguing it was proof that local leaders have failed. The President went on to remind Americans that Washington, D.C. saw a sharp turnaround in overall safety after his administration sent in the National Guard, working with local police, to crack down on violent criminals who previously thrived in the country’s capital.
“At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed. The last two weekends were similar. Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far. Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again, and soon. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump posted to his Truth Social account on September 2.
While the President has previously said that he would prefer that governors request federal help, he also reminded the media that he has the legal authority to act without the governors’ imposition when public safety is at risk in their state.
“We could straighten out Chicago – all they have to do is ask us,” Trump told reporters in the White House earlier this month, before calling Pritzker “incompetent” for refusing any outside help to control the crime in Chicago.
In 2025, Chicago ranked as the fourth most dangerous of America’s 50 largest cities, with an estimated 3.2 violent crimes for every 100 residents, according to a study from SmartAsset.
Instead of welcoming the help, Gov. Pritzker reportedly dismissed Trump’s plan as “hard to believe,” according to NBC 5 Chicago, even suggesting the President might be suffering from dementia.
Chicago’s Mayor Johnson also joined in on the attacks on Trump, comparing the President’s crime-fighting strategy to “militarism” and claiming it could put democracy at risk. Yet, neither politician offered a concrete plan to stop the bloodshed that has long plagued Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Trump, however, has made clear that his focus extends beyond Chicago.
The President would praise D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser this week for cooperating with federal law enforcement, arguing that her city’s crime rate is down to “virtually nothing” thanks to the recent crime crackdown. He would go on to compare D.C.’s response with that of leaders like Pritzker and Johnson, whom Trump says spend more time defending chaos than protecting Chicago’s citizens.
“Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in D.C. 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,” the President wrote on Truth Social on September 1.
In another post from earlier this month, Trump described the “success” seen in Memphis and Los Angeles after deploying the national guard to each city throughout the past four months, while warning that Chicago could face the same fate if action isn’t taken soon to curb crime.
On September 18, Trump posted a follow-up video of federal agents detaining illegal aliens in Chicago, captioning it: “MAKE Chicago GREAT AGAIN!”