WASHINGTON (AP) — JB Pritzker took a water taxi along the Chicago Riverwalk, past one of Donald Trump’s famous downtown towers. The gleaming and heavily trafficked tourist district was a deliberate backdrop on the day the Illinois governor directed a defiant message toward the White House: “Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”
The governor’s protests, however, may not matter. After Trump’s National Guard deployments to Los Angeles in June and Washington, D.C. this month, the Republican says his next targets for federal intervention may be two of the nation’s most Democratic cities: Chicago and Baltimore.
Trump’s possible move — targeting states whose governors are among potential White House contenders in 2028 — would be another escalation of presidential power, directly challenging the rights of states and cities to govern themselves. It also would intensify a partisan scramble for voters’ trust on matters of public safety.
For Trump, militarizing U.S. streets is the latest tactic to support his “law and order” branding and mass deportation agenda. It’s a way to cast Democratic leaders in affected locales as weak and ineffective, even as Trump exaggerates the violence he’s ostensibly trying to stop. Pritzker “should be calling me, and he should be saying ‘Can you send over the troops please?'” Trump said Tuesday at the White House. “It’s out of control.”
Democrats see a dangerous overreach by an aspiring authoritarian and have said they will challenge Trump in court if necessary. They also see in the political fight a way to persuade voters, especially moderates and independents, that Republicans bluster on crime while Democrats are better able to protect citizens and keep the peace.