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Mayor Brandon Johnson blasted President Donald Trump over what he described as “threats” to deploy the National Guard in Chicago to crack down on crime.
Johnson’s comments came hours after the president on Friday said Chicago would be the next city to see federal intervention after the mission to decrease crime in Washington, D.C. concluded.
“After we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe, also,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’re going to make our country very safe. … Chicago’s a mess.”
Johnson released a statement noting the city had not received any formal communication about additional federal law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago, adding he has “grave concerns” about the impact of any “unlawful deployment.”
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Johnson called the Trump administration’s efforts “uncoordinated, uncalled-for and unsound,” seemingly snapping back at the president, who called him “grossly incompetent” earlier in the day.
He added the city has reduced homicides by 30%, robberies by 35% and shootings by almost 40% in the last year, suggesting federal action would deteriorate trust.
“Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities,” Johnson wrote. “An unlawful deployment would be unsustainable and would threaten to undermine the historic progress we have made.”
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The city, which struggles with poverty and gang activity, has a crime rate higher than the national average.
However, 2023 crime data shows other Illinois cities, including Chicago Heights, Danville, Peoria, Rockford, and Harvey, had substantially higher violent crime rates than Chicago.
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“The National Guard will not alleviate the housing crisis,” Johnson wrote. “It will not put food in the stomachs of the 1 in 4 children that go to bed hungry every night in Chicago. The National Guard will not fully-fund our public schools or provide mental healthcare or substance abuse treatment to Chicagoans in need.
“The National Guard is no substitute for dedicated local law enforcement and community violence interrupters who know and serve our communities every day. There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them.”
Trump federalized D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department on Aug. 11 under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to take emergency control of the police force for 30 days.
Just over a week later, six red states pledged to send 2,000 guardsmen to the nation’s capital to help with the efforts, alongside agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
An official confirmed to Fox News on Friday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized soldiers and airmen to be armed in D.C., if their mission requires it.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
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