Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago. Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA
On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump did something he has done many times before: He called for his perceived political enemies to be jailed.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump declared that the mayor of Chicago, Democrat Brandon Johnson, “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!”
“Governor Pritzker also!” Trump added.
Trump’s post comes on the heels of recent clashes between Illinois protesters and ICE officers, who have been carrying out what they call “Operation Midway Blitz,” an enforcement effort in Chicago that DHS says has led to more than 1,000 arrests. On Monday, Johnson signed an executive order prohibiting ICE from using city property in its immigration enforcement efforts.
And as I wrote on Sunday, Pritzker said this weekend that the Trump administration planned to deploy 300 National Guard troops to Illinois “against our will.” He later said the troops would be coming from Texas and called on Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) to block the deployment; Abbott, for his part, said he authorized the move. Illinois leaders and the ACLU of Illinois have opposed the move. A majority of Americans, including Republicans, don’t think the National Guard should be deployed to cities without “external threats,” according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday. On Monday, Illinois’ Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, filed a lawsuit alleging the deployment of troops is “unconstitutional and/or unlawful.” Some troops have reportedly already arrived in Illinois.
Both Pritzker and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) are threatening to withdraw from the National Governors Association if the bipartisan organization does not more forcefully condemn Trump’s National Guard deployments to American cities—including Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Portland (though a federal judge blocked the Portland deployment over the weekend). “This is precisely the federal and interstate overreach we warned against—gubernatorial authority being trampled, state sovereignty being ignored, and the constitutional balance between states being attacked,” Pritzker said in his statement criticizing the group. (The NGA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
In response to Trump’s latest post calling for him and Johnson to be jailed, Pritzker wrote on X Wednesday morning, “I will not back down.”
“What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?” the Illinois governor added.
Meanwhile, Johnson said: “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.” Trump has, for example, previously suggested that the Department of Justice should target former President Barack Obama.
If you think Trump’s latest threats are just bluster, consider that former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned today after being indicted last month by the DOJ—a longtime dream of Trump’s. Comey pleaded not guilty.
