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3h ago

Trump Signals Chicago as Next Target as Pentagon Weighs Guard Deployment

Local officials cite falling crime alongside legal barriers to reject the president’s threat.

Bus riders watch as Metropolitan Police Department officers detain a man during a traffic stop on H Street corridor in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.
A members of the Mississippi National Guard stands near the Washington Monument on the National Mall after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Al Drago
Members of the National Guard stand watch as Vice President JD Vance, not pictured, arrives to greet other members of the National Guard at Union Station in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Overview

  • President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that Chicago will likely be the next focus of his federal crime initiative following the Washington, D.C. operation.
  • The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has been developing options to mobilize at least a few thousand National Guard members in Chicago as soon as September, though the department said it would not speculate on future operations.
  • Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned the idea, reported no federal outreach, and warned any unilateral deployment would face legal challenges and state resistance.
  • Legal experts note Washington’s unique status under the Home Rule framework contrasts with states’ control of their National Guard and Posse Comitatus limits on active-duty military policing, making similar moves in Chicago far more difficult.
  • In D.C., roughly 2,000 Guard and federal agents remain deployed, with CNN reporting an order for Guard members to carry service weapons, while DOJ and city data show violent crime has fallen sharply in D.C. and Chicago as federal community-violence grants were recently cut.