Topline
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’ll send National Guard troops to Chicago— with or without Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s approval—and Baltimore, though it’s unclear how or when the deployments will happen.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office at the White House on September 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Trump said “we’re going in,” when asked if he would act on his threats to deploy federal troops to Chicago and Baltimore to tamp down on crime, but did not say when the deployments would happen.
The president said he would “love” if Pritzker called him and asked him to send in the National Guard, but said “we’re going to do it anyway, we have the right to do it,” adding that he has an “the obligation to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.”
Pritzker responded later Tuesday by calling Trump’s remarks “unhinged,” telling reporters “no, I will not call the president asking him to send troops to Chicago. I’ve made that clear already.”
Trump made the comments after repeatedly warning over the weekend that he could replicate his Washington, D.C., crime crackdown in Chicago as 54 people were shot in the city over Labor Day weekend, including at least seven fatally.
Pritzker has repeatedly resisted Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard there, alleging the White House was making the plans “in secret,” calling it “an invasion with U.S. troops, if they, in fact, do that.”
Contra
Trump also suggested he could scale back his Washington, D.C., crime crackdown, telling reporters the capital is “now a safe zone” and there is “no crime.”
Tangent
A federal judge ruled Tuesday Trump illegally deployed the National Guard and Marines to California this summer to patrol protests against his immigration enforcement. Judge Charles Breyer said the move violated the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits federal troops from being used for civilian law enforcement without congressional approval. Addressing Trump’s threats to mobilize federal troops elsewhere, Breyer wrote in his Tuesday ruling that doing so would equate to “creating a national police force with the President as chief.” The judge said the federal troops can remain in Los Angeles as long as they’re there to protect federal property and personnel and not to participate in domestic law enforcement.
Key Background
Earlier Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his plans for a crime crackdown in Chicago, writing on Truth Social he would “solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC” and wrongly alleging “CHICAGO IS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD,” as multiple other U.S. cities have higher violent crime rates. Trump deployed the National Guard in Washington last month and implemented a federal takeover of the city’s police force under the Home Rule Act that gives the federal government some control over Washington, D.C. The act does not apply to cities outside the capital, however, making it more difficult for Trump to deploy the National Guard without permission from state governors.
Further Reading
Trump Doubles Down On Chicago Threat—Says He’ll ‘Solve The Crime Problem’ (Forbes)
Could Trump’s Crime Crackdown Help Him Politically? Democrats Blasting Effort Risk Backfire, Polls Suggest (Forbes)
Trump’s Los Angeles Takeover Violated Federal Law, Judge Rules (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/09/02/trump-says-hell-send-national-guard-to-chicago-and-baltimore/
