CHICAGO, August 25, 2025
Mayor Johnson Pushes Back Against Trump’s National Guard Threat
Chicago‘s mayor is exploring legal options to block a potential deployment of federal troops, citing a drop in city crime and questioning teh necessity of military intervention.
- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is defying President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the National Guard to the city.
- Johnson cites a significant decrease in murders, shootings, and car thefts in Chicago as evidence the guard is not needed.
- Legal avenues are being explored to prevent federal troops from entering the city without proper cause.
- Critics, including the ACLU of Illinois, argue such a deployment would be federal overreach and face legal challenges.
“I am confident that our detectives bureau has all the resources that it needs… that’s why we’re seeing the results that we are experiencing right now,” Johnson stated.
Mayor Johnson questioned Trump’s past actions, such as cutting federal investments in violence prevention and reducing budgets for programs like SNAP and Medicaid, asking how these cuts align with a desire to reduce urban violence.
“The National Guard is not going to put food on people’s table. The National Guard is not going to reduce unemployment,” Johnson added.
The mayor’s office confirmed on Saturday it was collaborating with Illinois’ governor and Cook County officials to “evaluate all of our legal options to protect the people of Chicago from unconstitutional federal overreach.”
Edwin Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the illinois branch of the American Civil Liberties union, indicated that Trump would face legal challenges if the National Guard were deployed to Chicago without a justifiable reason. Yohnka noted a higher legal barrier for deploying the Guard into Chicago compared to Washington, D.C., requiring a specific reason or the governor’s consent, which is unlikely in this case. The ACLU of Illinois plans to monitor troop conduct and challenge any potential misconduct.
Trump, speaking on Friday, admitted no concrete plans for Chicago had been made and he had not spoken with Mayor Johnson. He claimed, though, that residents were “screaming for us to come” and asserted that Chicago is “very hazardous.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused Trump on X on Saturday of trying to “manufacture a crisis,politicize Americans who serve in uniform,and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families.”
Alderman Brian Hopkins, chair of the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee, agreed that Trump’s threats were misplaced. “We still see an unacceptably high number of robberies, carjackings, burglaries, break-ins. We have work to do,but we need help that makes sense,” Hopkins said. He suggested that addressing Chicago’s shortage of 2,000 police officers would be more impactful than deploying the federal National Guard.
Trump has also threatened military deployment to baltimore and criticized Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.Moore responded that Trump “would rather attack his country’s largest cities from behind a desk than walk the streets with the people he represents.”
Trump’s approach to using the national Guard has been unconventional. Typically, the Guard is deployed for crises like natural disasters or civil unrest. In June, as an example, thousands of Guard troops and Marines were sent to Los Angeles during protests against immigration raids, despite opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
The recent deployment in Washington, D.C., has also drawn scrutiny. Despite being framed as a crime-fighting measure, D.C. police data indicates that violent crime in the capital had decreased by 26% compared to the previous year.
