WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will direct federal law enforcement intervention to combat crime in Chicago and Baltimore, despite staunch opposition from state and local officials in both cities.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office about sending National Guard troops to Chicago, Trump said, “We’re going in,” but added, “I didn’t say when.”
“I have an obligation,” the president said. ”This isn’t a political thing.”
Trump has already sent National Guard troops into Washington, D.C., and federalized the police force in the nation’s capital. More recently, he has said he plans similar moves in other cities, particularly those run by Democratic officials.
The president praised Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser for working with federal forces, but criticized Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has said crime in Chicago doesn’t require federal intervention.
“If the governor of Illinois would call up, call me up, I would love to do it,” Trump said. “Now, we’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it.”
Pritzker deemed Trump’s comments to call him for help as “unhinged.”
“No, I will not call the president asking him to send troops to Chicago,” he said at his downtown Chicago office. “I’ve made that clear already.”
The state received its first contact about federal intervention on Saturday when the head of the Illinois State Police received a call from Gregory Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol’s El Centro, California, sector, saying immigration agents would come to Chicago, according to Pritzker. The governor said no further details were offered.
Pritzker urged residents to look out for their neighbors, and film and share interactions with federal agents.
“Authoritarians thrive on your silence,” he said. “Be loud for America.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said violence in the city stems from too many guns on the streets that are trafficked to Illinois from neighboring states, including Republican-led Indiana.
“Chicago will continue to have a violence problem as long as red states continue to have a gun problem,” Johnson said.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has said the city and state will sue once the federal intervention begins.
“While Chicago’s crime problem is serious, it is far from the worst in the country,” Raoul said. “The president’s plan is not about fighting crime. It’s purely performative.”
Trump also said Tuesday that he has an “obligation to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.” Local officials there have joined Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in similarly opposing federal law enforcement intervention.
Trump said his efforts in Washington have ensured it “is now a safe zone. We have no crime.”
The White House announced separately Tuesday that more than 1,650 people have been arrested since the Trump administration first mobilized federal officials on Aug. 7.
“And this city was really bad,” Trump said. He said, “we’re really proud of” federal efforts to curb crime in Washington.
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