The long-simmering tension between the federal government and Chicago’s Democratic leadership has reached a fever pitch, with President Donald Trump vowing to deploy the National Guard to the city to combat what he called “out-of-control crime.” The declaration, made Tuesday, sets the stage for a dramatic constitutional and political showdown, as Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor J.B. Pritzker have both vowed to block the move.
“We’re going in,” President Trump told reporters, calling Chicago “the worst and most dangerous city in the world.” The President, who has already ordered Guard troops into Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles in recent months, rejected claims that his focus on Democratic-run cities is politically motivated, insisting, “I have an obligation to protect this country.” He cited recent crime data, noting that “when 20 people are killed over the last two and a half weeks and 75 are shot with bullets, I have an obligation.”
But Chicago’s leadership has not only pushed back—it has actively prepared to resist. At a Labor Day rally this week, Mayor Johnson declared, “No federal troops in the city of Chicago! No militarized force in the city of Chicago!” He has since signed an executive order barring city agencies and police from cooperating with any “unlawful or unconstitutional actions” from federal forces.
The legal authority for the President’s actions is far from clear. His comments came just hours after a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that his earlier use of the military in Los Angeles violated the law, cautioning that the President appeared intent on “creating a national police force with the President as its chief.” While that injunction is set to take effect on September 12, the President’s lawyers have already appealed to the Supreme Court.
Legal experts say a deployment to Chicago would be on even thinner legal ice. Unlike in Washington, D.C., which has a unique relationship with the federal government, the President would have to federalize the Illinois National Guard, an action that typically requires the governor’s consent. Governor Pritzker has repeatedly and forcefully stated, “do not come.”
As Chicago residents brace for the potential arrival of troops, the city’s political leaders and community organizations are preparing for a difficult period. Protest groups have begun mobilizing, and civic leaders have warned that a federal deployment could heighten, rather than curb, tensions. For now, the battle lines have been drawn, turning the streets of Chicago into the latest front in a constitutional struggle over the limits of presidential power.