The Pentagon has been planning to send the military to Chicago for weeks, The Washington Post reported. The deployment would be part of Donald Trump‘s show of force against Democratically-run cities. The military’s actions in Chicago could then be a blueprint for rolling out similar occupations in other cities, officials told the paper.
Military leaders have considered multiple plans of action for Chicago, including sending thousands of National Guard troops in September. They have also considered sending active-duty troops to Chicago, although that outcome is less likely, sources told the Post.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Trump threatened to send the military to Baltimore to “clean up” crime. “I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby Washington, D.C., and quickly clean up the Crime,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday morning.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who invited Trump to “come walk the streets with us,” responded to Trump’s post by writing on X, formerly Twitter: “President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking — even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland. Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier. Just let my team know.”
Trump already this summer has sent troops to intimidate and harass urban residents in Washington, D.C., under the guise of cracking down on crime rates that Trump has claimed are skyrocketing when, in reality, violent crime in the district is not only low but declining. In June, Trump sent troops to Los Angeles to quell protests against his administration’s broad immigration sweeps that have sent thousands to immigrant detention facilities in the U.S. and deported others, including sending deported immigrants to inhumane detention centers abroad.
Cities where local officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities — so-called “sanctuary cities” — are high on Trump’s list of places to target.
“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent,” Trump said Friday. “And we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Saturday blasted Trump’s domestic use of the military as “an authoritarian power grab of major cities.”
“After using Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. as his testing ground for authoritarian overreach, Trump is now openly flirting with the idea of taking over other states and cities,” Pritzker said on Friday. “Trump’s goal is to incite fear in our communities and destabilize existing public safety efforts — all to create a justification to further abuse his power.”
Pritzker added Saturday, after the Post’s story published, that his state received “no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention.”
He continued, saying that “no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, expressed strong opposition to Trump’s plans, saying Friday, “We have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago. The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.”
Johnson additionally pointed out that in the past year, the city has seen more than a 30 percent decline in homicides, a 35 percent decrease in robberies, and a nearly 40 percent drop in shootings.
Baltimore, similarly, has seen declining crime rates. According to the Baltimore Police Department, homicides in Baltimore have decreased 22 percent from last year.
Moore, appearing on Sunday’s Face the Nation, called Trump’s domestic military actions in D.C. as “not sustainable,” “deeply disrespectful” to the National Guard, and “unconstitutional.”
“There is a multitude of reasons that I am against this, and I will not authorize the Maryland National Guard to be utilized for this,” Moore added.
He called Trump’s threats “purely performative, without actually focusing on these communities and these neighborhoods who believe that progress is possible.”
