President Donald Trump is escalating his tough-on-crime campaign against Democrats, particularly those considering 2028 presidential bids, ahead of an expected illegal immigration crackdown in Chicago on Friday.
Trump’s pressure campaign comes as his federalization of the California National Guard this summer was deemed illegal by a federal court judge on Tuesday.
Trump increased his criticism of Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson this weekend for their inability to decrease crime, as Pritzker complained about the lack of communication between his office and the federal government amid reports of the prospective illegal immigration raids and Johnson signing an executive order directing the Chicago Police Department not to help their federal counterparts.
“At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed,” Trump wrote on social media Tuesday morning. “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!”
Two days earlier, Pritzker told CBS he would be open to support from federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, but not from the National Guard, describing that as “an invasion.”
“I’m saying we don’t want troops on the streets of American cities,” he said on Sunday. “That’s un-American, and frankly, the president of the United States ought to know better. This one doesn’t seem to. He hasn’t read any books. He doesn’t seem to understand the Constitution or the laws.”
During his first public appearance in days, Trump on Tuesday confirmed plans to surge federal law enforcement to Chicago but downplayed when.
“Chicago is a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” he told reporters after announcing he was moving the headquarters of U.S. Space Force to Alabama.
To that end, Trump has implored Pritzker to welcome the National Guard, in part because of legal restraints underscored by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer’s decision on Tuesday finding that Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated federal law, the Posse Comitatus Act, by federalizing the California National Guard and deploying U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June to respond to anti-illegal immigration raid protests.
The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits presidents from using the military for domestic law enforcement, with Trump aides emphasizing that any federal law enforcement operations in Chicago would be immigration-centric.
When asked for the White House’s response, spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Washington Examiner that “once again, a rogue judge is trying to usurp the authority of the commander in chief to protect American cities from violence and destruction.”
“President Trump saved Los Angeles, which was overrun by deranged leftist lunatics sowing mass chaos until he stepped in,” Kelly said. “While far-left courts try to stop President Trump from carrying out his mandate to Make America Safe Again, the president is committed to protecting law-abiding citizens, and this will not be the final say on the issue.”
Republican strategists contend Democrats are in a bind over how to react to Trump’s appeals based on high crime rates in Democratic-led cities. FBI data demonstrates that 19 of the 20 cities with the highest murder rates and at least 100,000 residents in 2024 had Democratic mayors.
“The perception in America is that these cities are lost, and that the mayors, and the city council, and the leadership in these cities lack the will to do what’s necessary to fix them,” said Brian Seitchick, a national Republican strategist.
Trump’s focus on crime is similar to his crackdown on illegal immigration at the southern border when he first came into office, according to Matt Dole, a GOP strategist in Ohio.
“He did not come in and say: here’s the 10-year road map to fix illegal immigration. He came in, he said: Start arresting and deporting people today, and take whatever resources you need to do it,” Dole said. “But I think that’s what we’re seeing in D.C. There is a path to making D.C. safer, and that same path can be used in other cities where crime is a problem, from Chicago to Los Angeles to New York, to Austin, Texas, wherever it is.”
Simultaneously, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) has distinguished herself by deploying the New Mexico Guard in Albuquerque and Española in April to counter crime emergencies, including regarding fentanyl and juvenile offenses, by providing non-law enforcement assistance. Regardless, she has criticized Trump’s federalization of the National Guard in California and Washington, D.C. by arguing her troops are unarmed, dressed in plain clothes, and do not undertake police-like responsibilities, such as riot control.
Trump’s tough-on-crime campaign started last month after former Department of Government Efficiency engineer Big Balls was allegedly assaulted during an attempted carjacking in Dupont Circle, a wealthy Washington neighborhood. The following week, Trump relied on the Home Rule Act to declare a 30-day public safety emergency in Washington last month, permitting him to federalize the Washington National Guard and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
That 30-day public safety emergency is poised to expire next week, and Trump has previewed the prospect of extending it, though that would require congressional approval, which he is unlikely to obtain because it will need 60 votes in the Senate. The president has also indicated his willingness to extend the emergency without Congress.
The White House on Tuesday promoted how federalized law enforcement in Washington has so far resulted in 1,669 arrests, including 16 accused members of gangs such as MS-13 and TDA. The White House added that five missing children had been found and 50 homeless encampments had been removed, with as many as 3,200 federal employees deployed across 22 agencies.
“President Trump’s efforts to crack down on crime in DC have yielded tremendous results in such a short time – violent crime has plummeted and dangerous criminals are being removed from the streets every single night,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Washington Examiner. “The Trump administration is grateful to continue partnering with [Washington] Mayor [Muriel] Bowser to make D.C. the safest city in the country. The mayor’s fellow Democrats should take note, working with President Trump means safer communities and less crime – no one in their right mind could seriously oppose that.”
In a weekend pitch to Democratic governors concerning the National Guard, Trump cited Bowser’s approval ratings, asserting they have improved because she endorsed his federalization of Washington’s law enforcement. Bowser, however, has been scrutinized for not being more adversarial with Trump. A Quinnipiac University poll published last week found that 56% of registered voters opposed Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington.
“The left’s opposition to these efforts are driven purely by Trump Derangement Syndrome, because anyone who cared about the safety of American communities would look at the outstanding results in DC and want to replicate it nationwide,” a third White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, told the Washington Examiner.
Trump signaled last month that Chicago, another city led by a Democratic mayor, would be the next federal target after the success in Washington.
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“When we’re ready, we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C. Chicago is very dangerous,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
But he has not ruled out taking his crackdown on crime to other blue cities, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, San Francisco, and New York City, following through on his yearslong attacks on urban enclaves.