CHICAGO: President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for jailing the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Illinois, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy troops to the streets of the third-largest city in the United States.
Neither Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson nor Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have been charged with criminal offenses, although both have emerged as prominent opponents of Trump’s immigration crackdown and the deployment of National Guard troops in Democratic-leaning cities.
Trump’s call to jail the two elected officials comes as another high-profile political rival, former FBI Director James Comey, appeared in court to face criminal charges that have been widely criticized as flimsy.
Donald Trump has frequently called for imprisoning his opponents since he first entered politics in 2015, but Comey is the first to face prosecution. On his social media platform, the president accused Johnson and Pritzker of failing to protect immigration agents who have been operating in Chicago.
“The mayor of Chicago should be in jail for failing to protect ICE agents! Governor Pritzker too!” Trump wrote, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.
‘ICE-free zone’
Johnson on Monday signed an executive order creating an “ICE-Free Zone” that prohibits federal immigration agents from using city property in their operations.
Hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers have gathered at a military installation outside Chicago, despite the objections of Pritzker, Johnson and other state Democratic leaders. Trump has threatened to deploy troops to more cities, which he said last week could serve as “training grounds” for the military.
TO Reuters/Ipsos A poll released Wednesday found that a majority of Americans oppose deploying troops without an outside threat.
Trump has ordered National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, following his previous deployments to Los Angeles and Washington. In each case, he has defied staunch opposition from Democratic mayors and governors, who say Trump’s claims of lawlessness and violence do not reflect reality.
“My goal is very simple: STOP CRIME IN AMERICA!” he wrote on his social media platform.
Violent crime has been declining in many US cities since the peak of the Covid era, and until now National Guard troops have largely been used to protect federal facilities, not combat street crime.
Protests over Trump’s immigration policies in Chicago and Portland had been largely peaceful and limited in size, far from the conditions described by Trump administration officials.
“What we’re happening now is literally domestic terrorism in Chicago,” Todd Blanche, the No. 2 Justice Department official, said on Fox News.
Pritzker has accused Trump of trying to foment violence to justify further militarization, and his state has sued to stop the deployment. A federal judge on Monday allowed the deployment to continue for now. Another federal judge blocked the deployment in Portland. Trump has threatened to invoke an anti-insurrection law to circumvent any court order blocking him, which was last invoked during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Published in Dawn, October 9, 2025
