CHICAGO (WLS) — Illinois politicians stood united at a downtown press conference on Monday afternoon, saying there is no reason for President Donald Trump to send National Guard troops to Chicago to fight crime.
ABC News confirmed that planning is underway, but no official decision has been made. A Pentagon spokesperson said, “We won’t speculate on further operations. The Department is a planning organization and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”
Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday that there has been no communication from the Trump administration regarding any possible National Guard deployment, which they say is unwarranted and unnecessary, because crime is falling in Chicago.
“The last thing that Chicagoans want is someone from the outside of our city who doesn’t know our city try to dictate and tell us what our city needs,” Johnson said. “Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars for publicity stunt to invoke chaos and terror, the federal government should spend that money on proven solutions to crime and violence reduction.”
Pritzker made his way to Monday afternoon’s press conference on a water taxi that started at the base of Chicago’s Trump Tower, in an effort to draw a contrast to what Trump says is a city in crisis.
“If it sounds to you like I am alarmist, that is because I am ringing an alarm,” Pritzker said. “Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city to punish its dissidents and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is: a dangerous power-grab.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker condemned President Donald Trump’s threat to send the National Guard to Chicago on Monday.
The governor says he has made no request for federal intervention.
“The president of the United States is doing this for theatrics. This is not because we’ve asked for it. It is not because there is some justice that he is going to seek. It is because he wants to create chaos,” Pritzker said.
Earlier Monday, the president suggested he might wait to be asked before sending in the guard, but said he would still consider acting without such a request.
“Chicago, everybody knows how bad it is. Everybody standing there knows. We know. You don’t have to be doing any studies. They should be saying, ‘Please, come in,’” Trump said.
But Trump also signed an executive order that aims to create specialized units in the National Guard trained in “quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order.” It establishes a “quick reaction force… available for rapid nationwide deployment,” a clear sign the president wants to use the guard in domestic law enforcement.
Local leaders push back
Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, among other Illinois politicians, gathered for a press conference in downtown Chicago on Monday afternoon.
Various officials from all levels of government were joined by dozens of Chicago business, civic, and faith leaders in a show of solidarity against what the president is considering. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth were among those present.
“The men and women who are brave enough to wear this country’s flag on their shoulder are doing so to defend our nation’s rights and freedoms, not to protect a tin pot dictator’s thin skin, or to police their own neighbors,” Duckworth said.
Those at the press conference said that having the National Guard on the streets would disrupt businesses and the economy.
“This is an authoritarian stunt. This is a declaration of war on our people,” said Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain with Live Free Illinois.
“It will impact businesses’ bottom lines and ability to operate efficiently. It will impact tourism and employees getting to their jobs,” said Civic Committee President Derek Douglas.
One community leader said the guard would do more harm than good in Chicago, and he called out the president.
“Before you dare speak about violence in Chicago… look into your mirror and address the violence coming from your White House,” said St. Sabina Church’s Fr. Michael Pfleger.
Local leaders called on people to protest peacefully. And the governor had a warning for Trump administration officials helping to carry out what he says is an illegal action.
“To any federal official who would come to Chicago and try to incite my people into violence as a pretext for something darker and more dangerous, we are watching, and we are taking names,” Pritzker said.
Crime is down in Chicago
Trump has touted his decision to send the National Guard to Washington, D.C. to fight crime as a success. In Chicago, local leaders say there is no need for the National Guard to be called up to help in the city, where crime is trending down.
“Not one person here today will claim we have solved all crime in Chicago, nor can that be said of any major American metro area. But calling the military into a US city to invade our streets and neighborhoods and disrupt the lives of everyday people is an extraordinary action and it should require extraordinary justification,” Pritzker said.
An ABC7 Data Team analysis of Chicago Police Department statistics shows overall violent crime and homicides at their lowest level year-to-date since 2014.
Violent crimes are down 13% in 2025 compared to average of the past three years. Shooting incidents are down 31%, and murders are down by 27% compared to that same time period.
“Over the past two years, we have seen significant reductions in crime and violence in the last year alone we have seen more than a 30% decline in homicides,” Johnson said.
But Republicans say crime is still a problem that puts people’s lives in danger, and that the guard could help.
“We need relief for the people of Chicago now, and people in the Southwest Side of Chicago have been waiting for decades to try to get a safe environment and community where they can develop and grow their kids and businesses want to come back, and under JB Pritzker and Brandon Johnson, that’s not happening,” said Cook County Republican Party Chairman Aaron Del Mar. “Because we’ve had peak crime for the last four or five years, there has been some small reductions in reported crime. I still think that we’re way over-the-top in what is an allowable amount of crime to be happening in the city of Chicago.”
Del Mar added, “If we even save one life, I think it’s worth a challenge because Chicago has been crime-ridden for so long, and people have had enough.”
Republican Illinois state Rep. Rep. Martin McLaughlin also weighed in, saying, “We should have done this a long time ago so that every neighborhood in Chicago deserves the same safety and security that we enjoy in the suburbs.”
The conservative group “Chicago Flips Red” said despite CPD’s numbers showing crime is down, many still don’t feel safe, and welcome the National Guard.
“It’s too much crime; so, it needs to be some type of law and order. And if this administration cannot get it done, the Johnson administration can’t get it done, then yeah, we need the National Guard,” said Zoe Leigh with Chicago Flips Red.
But Ald. Michael Rodriguez, who represents the 22nd Ward, says city officials have to keep investing in what is working.
“Imagine 26th Street, tanks rolling down our street,” Rodriguez said. “Do you think people are going to want to go to church? Go to school? Invest in our businesses with that kind of presence here? The answer is, ‘No.’”
Rodriguez and Ald. Jeylu B. Gutierrez plan to introduce a resolution at the next Chicago City Council meeting, they said, that Trump “stands down.”
Possible legal battle
The National Guard has been brought into Chicago in recent years.
Back in 2020, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot requested the guard after civil unrest and protests over the murder of George Floyd became difficult for Chicago police to handle alone.
They were also put on standby for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last year. But they were never called in to respond, and Pritzker said they were solely there to support CPD, not actively police or patrol.
“We’ve had guardsmen in the street before, but they were ordered in by the governor,” said Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor Douglas William Godfrey.
And while Trump doubled down on ramping up deployments of the National Guard to Democratic cities on Monday, Illinois Democratic leaders say, not so fast. The White House does not have the same authority over cities beyond Washington.
When the president calls on troops without the governor’s permission, the guard is limited to protecting federal buildings and personnel. And constitutional experts say the president can only nationalize the guard in the event of a rebellion, foreign invasion or when federal laws cannot be enforced.
“Has the presence of the guard had any impact on public safety in LA? No. Huge waste of taxpayer dollars and maybe a violation of the law. We certainly believe that it is,” said Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Chicago.
“D.C. and LA are actually not safer because he deployed the National Guard,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago. “It’s actually people are living in less safety. People are scared. He’s attempting to do the same thing here in Chicago.”
At Monday’s press conference, Raoul was asked if he is considering some type of preemptive legal action ahead of a possible deployment. He said that could be difficult from a legal standpoint, and he is not anticipating that he will take that action.
Johnson has vowed legal action if a deployment occurs, but it is unclear if the courts would block such a move.
“Brave men and women who signed up to serve our country did not sign up to occupy American cities,” Johnson said.
Weeks after the National Guard was sent to Los Angeles, a judge has yet to rule on California’s lawsuit.
Johnson said in a statement Monday, “Mayor Johnson’s primary focus over his first two years in office has been driving down violent crime in Chicago. Since taking office, Chicago has recorded historic reductions in crime and violence as the Johnson administration has implemented a holistic approach to community safety. In the first six months of this year, Chicago has seen a 33% reduction in homicides and a 38% reduction in shootings.
“To improve police clearance rates, Mayor Johnson added detectives and restructured the detectives bureau at the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to more efficiently allocate resources. This work has resulted in a citywide homicide clearance rate of 77.4%, the highest in more than a decade.
“To address the root causes of violence, Mayor Johnson has doubled the number of mental health professionals responding to mental health crisis calls, expanded youth summer employment by 47%, and enhanced partnerships between police officers and community violence intervention (CVI) groups.
“Year-to-date statistics
– Overall Violent Crime: -21.6%
– Homicides: -32.3%
– Overall Shooting Incidents: -37.4%
– Multi-Victim Shooting Incidents: -44.6%
– Robberies: -31.9%
– Vehicular Hijackings: -49%
– Aggravated Assault: -18.1%”
Pritzker said in a statement, “While the Trump Administration plans to deploy the National Guard, active-duty military, or federal agents into Democratic-led states, Illinois is showing that smart, data-driven policies, investment in strong law enforcement, and community engagement produce real results.
“In contrast to the declines in violent crime in Illinois and Chicago, a number of Republican-led states continue to see a high level of violent crime. Yet, the Trump Administration ignores these crime levels, undermining their public safety claims. Deploying military officers only seeks to undermine the hard work both state and local police departments and community members have built on to regain trust, including the ways that state and local law enforcement already coordinate with federal law enforcement to tackle crime.
“Instead, the Trump Administration should focus on releasing critical crime prevention and law enforcement funding back to local communities and states, rather than undermining the hard work of local police and communities.”
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