Donald Trump boldly suggested that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) should “beg” him for help in cracking down on crime in Chicago.
On Monday, Trump was asked by a reporter on Air Force One if he had a message for Pritzker amid their clash over the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops into Chicago as well as other Democratic-led major cities.
“I think he should beg for help, because he’s running a bad operation, and he’s letting people be killed in his city,” Trump said. “I love Chicago. Chicago can be a great city again, and very quickly, I would have Chicago cleaned out and criminals removed.”
He later added: “Pritzker should ask me to do it.”
The president went on to laude himself for taking down “1,700 career criminals” in Washington, D.C.
“In D.C., we took down 1,700 career criminals — hardline criminals. That’s why it’s so good right now … It’s never been so safe,” Trump continued. “And the restaurants have never done better business. They’re opening up new restaurants — they were closing restaurants, now they’re opening restaurants.”
Trump then claimed he “can do the same thing on a large scale in Chicago.”
During Trump’s second term, he deployed the National Guard to multiple cities, including Los Angeles, D.C., Memphis, Portland and, most recently, Chicago.
Earlier this month, however, a judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area for at least two weeks amid ongoing protests at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities that the Trump administration has committed to cracking down on.
On Tuesday, a slew of National Guard members from Texas were deployed to the Chicago area, despite an ongoing lawsuit opposing their arrival.
A federal appeals court ruled Saturday that the troops can stay in the state and under federal control, but can’t be deployed to protect federal property or go on patrol for now.
Pritzker has vehemently denounced the deployment of troops to Chicago, accusing Trump of turning the city into a “war zone” amid the increase in immigration raids.
Meanwhile, Trump argued that Pritzker should be arrested for “failing to protect ICE officers.”
Pritzker slammed Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s calls for his arrest while appearing on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“They’re making things up to go after people,” the Democratic governor said. “I’m going to stand up for the people of my state. And we’ve got to all stand together because there are truly unconstitutional actions coming out of this administration, coming at the states and the people of the United States, and all of us, Democrats and Republicans, need to speak out about it.”