Donald Trump has said the governor of Illinois and mayor of Chicago, both Democrats, should be jailed – as his administration appears poised to deploy troops on the streets of the third-largest US city.
The US president said on Truth Social that governor JB Pritzker and mayor Brandon Johnson failed to protect federal immigration officers, without offering any evidence.
Mr Trump wrote: “Chicago mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!”
In a post on X, Mr Johnson said: “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
Mr Pritzker also said on social media: “Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
“What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
His remarks followed the deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers outside Chicago despite the objections of officials.
The reason for their deployment is not clear, but the Trump administration has for months threatened mass immigration raids and a military presence in the city, which have been met with heavy protests.
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Texas National Guard are seen at the US Army Reserve Centre in a suburb of Chicago. Pics: AP
National Guard troops are state-based militia who normally answer to local governors and are often deployed in response to natural disasters.
While the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws is limited, Mr Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
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Trump said ‘Chicago is a mess’ in August…
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…and threatened ‘war’ on Chicago in September
The president has repeatedly described Chicago in hostile terms, calling it a “hellhole” of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in most crimes, including murders.
Following Mr Trump’s earlier deployment of troops to Los Angeles and Washington DC, he has also ordered soldiers to Portland, Oregon, which he described as a “war zone”.
Illinois’ attorneys had failed in a legal attempt to block their deployment, which they labelled “illegal, dangerous and unconstitutional”.
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