President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is prepared to order federal authorities into Chicago and Baltimore to combat crime, escalating a confrontation with Democratic governors and mayors who insist outside intervention is neither wanted nor legal.
Asked in the Oval Office about deploying National Guard troops to Chicago, Trump replied, “We’re going in,” though he declined to provide a timeline.
“I have an obligation,” Trump said. “This isn’t a political thing.”
But state leaders immediately pushed back. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, dismissed the idea as “unhinged” and unnecessary. In Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore officials echoed the opposition.
Federal deployments already underway
Trump has already sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and even federalized police in the nation’s capital. A federal judge on Tuesday declared the California deployment illegal, raising fresh questions about the scope of the president’s authority.
Still, Trump praised D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for cooperating, while lambasting Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for resisting.
“If Pritzker would call me up, I would love to do it,” Trump said. “Now, we’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it.” He also called Baltimore “a very unsafe place.”
Local officials prepare for confrontation
At a press conference with Johnson, Pritzker reaffirmed he would not request federal intervention. “No, I will not call the president asking him to send troops to Chicago,” he said.
Illinois officials were first notified of potential federal action Saturday when a Border Patrol chief called state police, Pritzker said. No details were given.
Pritzker urged Chicago residents to remain calm but to document interactions with federal agents. “Authoritarians thrive on your silence. Be loud for America,” he said.
Activists and pastors in Chicago began circulating protest schedules, vowing demonstrations if federal troops arrive. A coalition of clergy sent Trump a letter urging him to focus instead on jobs and schools. “Prepare your hearts for resistance,” the pastors wrote.
Crime trends and political clash
Chicago has long been a target of Trump’s rhetoric. Earlier Tuesday, he called it “the world’s most dangerous city,” though FBI data shows its homicide rate ranks below that of St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Washington, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Richmond, Va.
The city recorded 573 homicides in 2024, the most of any U.S. city, but saw shootings and killings decline more than 30% in the first half of 2025 compared with last year — the steepest drop in a decade.
Mayor Johnson argued the problem stems from guns trafficked in from neighboring states. “Chicago will continue to have a violence problem as long as red states continue to have a gun problem,” he said.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul vowed to sue as soon as federal intervention begins.
Baltimore leaders denounce “theatrics”
In Baltimore, Mayor Brandon Scott and Gov. Moore touted the city’s progress in reducing gun violence, including record-low homicides in August. Scott accused Trump of targeting Black-led cities with inflammatory rhetoric.
Moore spokesman David Turner called federal policing “theatrical and not sustainable.”
Despite local resistance, Trump touted federal arrests in Washington since Aug. 7, calling the capital “a safe zone.”
“This was a beautiful thing that happened in Washington,” he said. “Because we showed that it could be done.”
