President Trump said Chicago will be the next city to receive his administration’s increased federal law enforcement surge to combat crime, similar to his crackdown on the District of Columbia.
“We’ll straighten that one out, probably next, that will be our next one after this,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office. “I think Chicago will be our next and then we’ll help with New York.”
The president said he has received calls from politicians “begging me to go to Chicago, begging me to go to New York, begging me to go to Los Angeles.”
He slammed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, calling him “grossly incompetent.”
“The people in Chicago … are screaming for us to go. They’re wearing red hats, just like this one, but they’re wearing red hats,” he said. “African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ’Please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please.’”
As he spoke, the president was wearing a red cap with the words “Trump Was Right About Everything.”
It’s been just over 10 days since Mr. Trump decided to federalize the District’s police force. National Guard troops were assigned to patrol and be stationed in the District.
He said the National Guard has done an incredible job, and he hasn’t had to bring in the military, “which we’re willing to do if we have to.”
Mr. Trump said he has not spoken with elected officials of the cities he’s planning to address next.
“When we’re ready, we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C. Chicago is very dangerous,” he said.
He said he’s received “quiet calls” from Democrats in those cities saying they want him to come, but when asked to name who’s called him, he said he wouldn’t because he doesn’t want them to lose their elections.
“But we’ve had calls from Democrats and calls from people generally — ’We’d love for you to come here,’ because we’ll straighten out the problem,” he said.
Data shows that violent crime is down in Chicago and New York, just like data from the Metropolitan Police Department showed about D.C. Mr. Trump said he believes the District’s crime statistics were fudged.
Officials in Chicago have previously pushed back at Mr. Trump’s threats of sending troops to the city, saying he has no legal right to do so. In the District, federal law allows the president to take such action.
“It’s not surprising to me that he suggests violating the law,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said earlier this month. “He’s done it many times and been convicted of it 34 times [for business fraud in New York]. And so I would just say he has absolutely no right and no legal ability to send troops into the city of Chicago, and so I reject that notion.”
Mr. Johnson has said that sending the National Guard to Chicago “would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts.”
