The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, and the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, rejected on Monday the threat of President Donald Trump to send the National Guard to Chicago to combat violence and crime.
The president described Chicago as “disaster” and described Pritzker and Johnson, both Democrats, as “incompetent”, in a press conference where he announced that the federal government will assume control of the police force in Washington DC
Trump invoked section 740 of the Autonomy Law of the Columbia district in an executive order to declare a “criminal emergency” and deploy National Guard soldiers on the streets.
“Our capital has been taken by violent gangs and blood criminals, wandering mobs of unbridled young people, drug addicts and homeless, and we will not allow this to happen again. We will not tolerate it again,” Trump said.
In his opinion, there are other cities “that are also in poor condition.” “Look how bad Chicago is … we are not going to lose our cities because of this. This will go further; we are starting very strongly in DC,” he added.
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Pritzker responded immediately and referred to the POSSE Committeus Law, stating that the Federal Government has no right to send soldiers to US cities for any reason.
“I am not surprised that I suggest violating the law; he has done it many times,” he said about Trump’s behavior, who is considered a political enemy of Illinois, a “sanctuary” state that protects the undocumented.
In the city of Chicago, the municipal council declared “non -pleasant person” to the president during his first presidency, for his attacks against immigrants and Mexicans in particular.
Mayor Johnson today issued a statement where he rejects the intervention and affirms that sending to the National Guard would only serve to “destabilize our city and undermine our public security efforts.”
Johnson said that, since his first day in office, public security has been its main priority, and “in just two years we have achieved historical progress, reducing homicides by more than 30 % and shooting in almost 40 %, only in the last year.”
He said it was recently informed that Trump cut another 158 million dollars in funds for violence prevention programs in cities such as Chicago. These cuts are added to the dismantling, by the Trump administration, of the Office for the Prevention of Violence with Weapons and the cancellation of more than 800 million dollars in subsidies for programs against violence throughout the country.
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“If President Trump wants to contribute to Chicago being a safer place, he can start by releasing funds for violence programs that have been fundamental in our work to reduce crime and violence,” said the mayor.
The president of the United States expressed his hope that in addition to Chicago, other cities such as Los Angeles and New York assume the measures he announced for the capital of the country, and take the necessary steps to “self -imply”.
He also referred to speculations about the possibility that Pritzker, one of his toughest critics, appears to the presidency in 2028: “I have noticed that he has lost some weight, so maybe he has an opportunity, you know?”
“Donald, thanks for the fulfillment! We do not look at the public, we both know that you have no authority to take control of Chicago. By the way, where are Epstein’s archives?” Pritzker replied in X.
The governor of Illinois, who is fulfilling a second term, he said during the weekend to the media that he is focused on winning a third term in 2026, but did not rule out the possibility of a presidential candidacy.
“I cannot rule out anything, but what I can assure is that, regardless of the decisions I make, whatever does the will of the people of Illinois will follow,” he said.
With EFE information.
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