Trump says Illinois governor and Chicago mayor should be jailed as they
oppose Guard deployment
[October 09, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and SOPHIA TAREEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the Illinois
governor and Chicago mayor should be jailed as they oppose his
deployment of National Guard troops for his immigration and crime
crackdown in the nation's third-largest city. The officials said they
would not be deterred.
The Republican president made the comment in a social media post, the
latest example of his brazen calls for his Democratic opponents to be
prosecuted or locked up — a break from longtime norms as the Justice
Department traditionally has strived to maintain its independence from
the White House.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB
Pritzker “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” It was
a reference to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was objecting to.
Johnson, in a post on X, said, “This is not the first time Trump has
tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
Pritzker, also on X, said, “I will not back down. Trump is now calling
for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else
is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, when asked what crimes the
president believed Pritzker and Johnson had committed, failed to
identify any, but she said they “have blood on their hands” and pointed
to Chicago Police Department reports that at least five people were
killed and 25 shot over the weekend.
“Instead of taking action to stop the crime, these Trump-Deranged
buffoons would rather allow the violence to continue and attack the
President for wanting to help make their city safe again,” Jackson said.
National Guard troops from Texas are positioned outside Chicago, despite
a lawsuit by the state and city to block the deployment.
The troops' mission is not clear, but the Trump administration has
undertaken an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.
Trump has called Chicago a “hellhole,” though police statistics show
significant drops in most crimes, including homicides. Protesters have
skirmished with agents outside a detention center in the village of
Broadview, outside Chicago.
A woman in Chicago was shot by a Border Patrol agent over the weekend
after she and a man were accused of using their vehicles to strike and
then box in the agent’s vehicle. The agent then exited his car and fired
five shots at Marimar Martinez, 30.
Martinez and Anthony Ruiz, 21, are charged with forcibly assaulting a
federal officer and were ordered to be released Monday pending trial.
Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, claimed body camera footage
contradicts the federal government’s narrative of her actions.
Trump’s comment came as former FBI Director James Comey appeared in a
Virginia courtroom, pleading not guilty in a case that has intensified
concerns about the Justice Department’s efforts to target Trump
adversaries.
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Governor JB Pritzker, second from right, speaks as Chicago Mayor
Brandon Johnson, right, listens to him at a news conference in
Chicago, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
When Trump was campaigning for the White House in 2024 at a time he
faced criminal and civil investigations, he told supporters, “I am
your retribution.”
The Justice Department has also opened criminal investigations this
year against California Sen. Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General
Letitia James and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running
for New York City mayor. The three, all Democrats, have all denied
wrongdoing and say the investigations are politically motivated.
Pritzker, one of Trump’s fiercest critics, has called the president
a “wannabe dictator,” comparing his leadership to that of Russian
President Vladimir Putin. The governor has suggested that Trump, who
has threatened Chicago with apocalyptic force, suffers from
dementia.
Pritzker, eyed as a potential 2028 White House contender, has
strongly fought any federal intervention along with Johnson, saying
it is not wanted or needed in Illinois or Chicago.
“Certainly there’s a lot more going on in the world than for him to
send troops into Chicago,” Pritzker told The Associated Press in
August during a visit to a South Side neighborhood where a campaign
videographer was also in tow. “He ought to be focused on some of the
bigger problems.”
Pritzker alleges that Trump is trying to militarize cities to affect
the outcome of the 2026 election by impeding voting efforts in
Democratic strongholds like Chicago.
The heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune is seeking a third term as
governor next year and has sidestepped questions about higher
ambitions. Pritzker was among the finalists considered as a running
mate for Democratic Kamala Harris’ presidential run in 2024.
Trump has often singled out Chicago and Illinois because they have
some of the country’s strongest immigrant protections. Both are
“sanctuary” jurisdictions, which limit cooperation between police
and federal immigration agents.
Johnson, a first-term mayor, has strengthened those protections with
executive orders, including one that bars immigration agents from
using city-owned land as staging areas for operations. He calls
Trump’s actions unconstitutional.
Johnson has accused Trump of waging a war on Chicago and having an
“animus” toward women and people of color. Nearly one-third of
Chicago’s 2.7 million residents are Black and roughly one-third are
Hispanic.
“He’s a monster,” Johnson told reporters in May. “Period.”
___
Tareen reported from Chicago. Associated Press writer Christine
Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report.
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