Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to a social media post from President Donald Trump saying the pair “should be in jail for failing to protect ICE officers.”
Trump posted on Truth Social calling out both the city mayor and Illinois governor as National Guard troops arrive in the Chicago area.
“I will not back down,” Pritzker wrote on X shortly after. “Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
Later, during an unrelated press event, Pritzker shared a message to Trump, saying “come and get me.”
“Look, he’s a coward. He says a lot of things to the camera. He likes to pretend to be a tough guy. Come and get me. Come and get me,” the governor told reporters.
He again questioned the president’s mental state, calling him “demented” and “unhinged.”
“This is somebody who’s so insecure that he lashes out pretending that he can come arrest people for no reason at all. He can’t. He isn’t going to do it. TACO: Trump always chickens out,” Pritzker said.
Johnson also responded, saying he is “not going anywhere.”
“This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested,” Johnson said.
It’s the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between the Democratic leaders and the Republican president, who deployed National Guard troops to Illinois this week despite opposition from both Pritzker and Johnson.
Officials have said the troops were sent to “protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions.”
More than 500 troops were sent to the Chicago area for a planned 60-day mission, according to the U.S. Northern Command.
Footage captured Tuesday by NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago cameras and the stations’ Sky 5 helicopter showed troops arriving Tuesday at the Elwood U.S. Army Reserve, located about 50 miles outside of Chicago near Joliet.
See coverage of the scene below:
The troops’ arrival comes despite a federal judge urging the administration to “pause” deployments pending a Thursday hearing on a legal challenge from Illinois.
Illinois’ suit alleges in part that the federalization and deployment of troops is “unconstitutional and/or unlawful.”
“I’m here to say that the president’s actions are illegal,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a press conference Monday. “The deployment of the military to Illinois is unlawful and unconstitutional, no matter where these forces come from.”
Pritzker blasted Trump’s plans to deploy hundreds of armed military troops to the city Monday, calling them “unlawful and unwarranted.”
Pritzker said Trump wants to “justify and normalize” the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command – and the governor said he “won’t back down” until federal agents conducting immigration enforcement leave Chicago.
“The Trump administration is following a playbook: cause chaos, create fear and confusion, make it seem like peaceful protesters are a mob by firing gas pellets and tear gas canisters at them,” the governor stated. “Why? To create the pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act so that he can send the military to our city.”
In a statement, a White House spokesperson said Trump “has exercised his lawful authority.”
“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”
Still, a California court ruled Trump overstepped his authority in sending members to Los Angeles during protests and unrest there earlier this year. Following a legal whirlwind, a federal judge late Sunday also temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon.
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