(NewsNation) — The Trump administration has been working on plans to deploy thousands of National Guard members to Chicago, according to published reports that coincide with vocal opposition from Chicago’s mayor and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker against what they consider to be federal overreach.
The Guard mobilization in Chicago, if it does come to pass, would resemble the military presence Trump ordered in Washington, D.C. to combat crime and homelessness. National Guard members have now been authorized to carry service weapons in the capital, the Defense Department said Sunday.
The Pentagon’s potential plan for Chicago could send at least 3,000 National Guard members to Chicago as soon as September, according to the Washington Post, which cited two anonymous sources. ABC News confirmed the information.
Trump has eyed Chicago for crackdown
Trump already signaled late last week the Windy City would be the next Democrat-controlled city for what the Republican president has characterized as a crackdown on lawlessness.
White House Border czar Tom Homan over the weekend told NewsNation that Chicago was indeed a possibility for troop deployments, as he discussed a separate plan to have the National Guard assist officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement across 19 states.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a frequent target of the Trump administration, said any order to send troops to his city would be unconstitutional. “Chicago is not calling for a military occupation of our city. We are currently evaluating all of our legal options,” he said in a prepared statement Sunday.
Pritzker, a Democrat, said the president “is attempting to manufacture a crisis … to distract from the pain he is causing working families.”
Trump engages with Md. governor over crime
Meanwhile, Trump has been in a back-and-forth with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who urged the president to visit Baltimore and actually walk the streets before vilifying it as a crime-ridden place. Moore, a Democrat, says officials have made great progress in turning things around there.
Trump shot back on social media: “I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk.’”
Baltimore is a candidate to receive federalized National Guard members, too, Trump said.
NewsNation’s Kevin Bohn and Andrew Fischer Espitallier contributed to this report.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Libbey Dean
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.newsnationnow.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
