CHICAGO (WGN) – President Donald Trump appears to be having second thoughts about sending the U.S. military to Chicago.
With Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker still refusing to ask Trump to send the National Guard here to help with crime, the president appears to be moving on.
Trump said to expect an announcement soon about a city and state that do what his help.
Meanwhile an ICE blitz is underway in Chicagoland, but it’s not a large-scale anti-crime effort involving the National Guard.
“Each day, it seems like the president is deciding maybe he read something in the newspaper and he’ll send troops to Portland or perhaps to New Orleans or perhaps to Chicago, so I’m always glad to know he’s not sending them to Chicago. We don’t need them. There’s not an emergency in Chicago,” Pritzker said.
The governor, who’s pushed back hard against troop deployment, said he’ll remain alert should Trump change his mind.
“I’m not convinced that we’re not going to see military troops on the ground. We don’t know,” Pritzker said.
So far, no troops have been seen in Chicagoland, but reports are trickling in of federal agents descending on locations in Northern Illinois targeting criminal suspects not authorized to be in the country.
ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz” is only days old, but it’s already stoking fear in immigrant communities.
On Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he and Chicago police have been left in the dark.
“Nothing has been communicated with us and that’s what the problem has been. If this president was serious, he would work to coordinate with our local police department to get illegal guns off the streets of Chicago that would help save lives,” Johnson said.
The feud over the federal surge has shined a spotlight on Pritzker, who is widely though to be eyeing a 2028 White House run. Senior Democrats are paying attention to how Pritzker has waged battle with the president.
“I think Governor Pritzker is doing a tremendous job on behalf of the people in the great state of Illinois and is committed to continuing to drive crime down in Chicago as Democrats are committed to driving crime down all across the United States of America,” U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said.
In regard to whether or not Trump will order the military to Chicagoland, Pritzker said his sources inside the federal government warned last week that something was imminent. It has, however, been quiet for several days now.
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