Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker delivered a scathing critique of President Donald Trump’s plans to deploy federal forces to Chicago during an exclusive interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on August 31.
Pritzker’s appearance came just days before Trump announced on September 2 that he was “going in” to Chicago with National Guard troops, despite strong local opposition.
Pritzker accused Trump of having ulterior motives beyond crime fighting, suggesting the president aims “to stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections”. The governor drew historical parallels to authoritarian regimes, stating he built a Holocaust Museum and understands “what the history was of a constitutional republic being overturned, after an election.”
The governor’s constitutional objections center on the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law dating back to 1878 that restricts military involvement in domestic law enforcement. Pritzker said that “Posse Comitatus does not allow U.S. troops into U.S. cities to do…to fight crime, to be involved in law enforcement.”
The legal challenges to Trump’s military deployments gained momentum when a federal judge ruled on September 1 that the administration’s use of National Guard troops in Los Angeles violated federal law. Judge Charles Breyer issued an injunction stating that “there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law”.
The ruling noted Trump’s intention to deploy troops in other cities, with Breyer writing that the administration was “creating a national police force with the President as its chief”.
Chicago has experienced significant crime reductions that contradict Trump’s characterization of the city as a “hellhole.” According to the Council on Criminal Justice’s Mid-Year 2025 Crime Trends report, Chicago’s homicide rate dropped 33% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The city recorded 278 homicides in 2025, with violent crime decreasing by 22% compared to the previous year.
Trump has repeatedly called Chicago the “murder capital of the world,” but this characterization is factually incorrect on multiple levels. Chicago doesn’t even rank among America’s most dangerous cities.
According to comprehensive global crime statistics, Tijuana, Mexico, currently holds the title of the world’s murder capital with a staggering 138 homicides per 100,000 residents. These figures dwarf Chicago’s murder rate, which stands at approximately 15.8 per 100,000 residents.
Chicago doesn’t even crack the top 15 most dangerous US cities by murder rate. Based on the most recent FBI data and comprehensive crime statistics, Chicago ranks approximately 19th to 20th among major US cities for murder rates, depending on the data source and population thresholds used.
Notably, 13 of the 20 US cities with the highest murder rates are located in Republican-controlled states.
The cities with the highest murder rates in America include:
- Jackson, Mississippi – 78 per 100,000
- Birmingham, Alabama – 59 per 100,000
- St. Louis, Missouri – 54.4 per 100,000
- Baltimore, Maryland – 50 per 100,000
- Memphis, Tennessee – 43 per 100,000
Recent data demonstrates that Chicago has actually made significant progress in reducing violent crime:
- Homicides dropped 32% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024
- Shootings decreased by 39% through mid-2025
- Total violent crime is down 22% in 2025
- June 2025 recorded the fewest homicides for any June since 2014
A key theme throughout Pritzker’s interview was the Trump administration’s failure to coordinate with local authorities. “Nobody from the White House. Nobody from the federal government has called anybody in our administration or the city of Chicago”, Pritzker stated.
This breakdown in federal-local coordination was further detailed in Pritzker’s September 2 press conference remarks, where he noted that the only outreach came from CBP’s Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino on Saturday.
Pritzker’s interview revealed that Trump’s Chicago operation involves both immigration enforcement and potential military deployment. He criticized the administration’s approach to ICE operations, describing scenes where “people who are attempting to go through a legal process to stay in this country…they’re arresting them in the hallways on their way to that hearing”.
Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton confirmed on September 2 that ICE officers were arriving in Chicago that week, with federal agents reportedly staging at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on August 30 prohibiting city police from collaborating with National Guard troops or federal agents. The order ensures Chicago police will not participate in patrols, arrests, or immigration enforcement actions with federal forces.
Johnson’s directive requires city police to wear official uniforms, identify themselves, and avoid masks to distinguish themselves from federal operations. “This executive order makes it emphatically clear that this president is not going to come in and deputize our police department,” Johnson stated.
