President Donald Trump has never been one to tiptoe around a problem, and when it comes to America’s most crime-ridden cities, he’s made clear that the D.C. law enforcement federalization is only the beginning.
At an informal White House presser last Friday, Trump celebrated the crackdown’s early wins—over a thousand arrests, more than a hundred illegal guns seized, and twelve days without a homicide—and hinted that Chicago could be next on the list.
“Chicago’s a mess,” Trump said bluntly. “You have an incompetent mayor—grossly incompetent—and we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this.”
That “grossly incompetent mayor,” of course, is Brandon Johnson, the progressive successor to Lori Lightfoot who has somehow managed to make her tenure look almost competent by comparison. Under Johnson, crime continues to spiral, businesses continue to flee, and residents continue to beg for relief.
PRITZKER: “I live rent free in the President’s head.”
Wait ’til the end. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/wPiB3xSi0b
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 25, 2025
But instead of gratitude, Trump’s warning shot was met with the usual grandstanding from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who staged a press conference with Johnson and other Chicago Democrats to tell the president, “Do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”
Pritzker even threatened litigation, vowing to meet Trump in court if federal forces are deployed, and encouraged residents to protest any intervention. He painted a picture of “unprecedented and difficult times” if the National Guard is called in—not because of crime, mind you, but because of Trump’s involvement.
And then came the unintentional comedy. While Pritzker puffed out his chest about living “rent-free” in Trump’s head, cameras caught the scene with Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago towering directly in the background. Intentional or not, it was the perfect shot: Pritzker railing against Trump while literally standing in his shadow.
For a man claiming to be “rent-free,” Pritzker spends an awful lot of time reacting to Trump, positioning himself as a Resistance leader, and injecting himself into issues that don’t even touch Illinois. He virtue-signaled over the Kilmar Abrego-Garcia deportation saga, threatening a boycott of El Salvador.
He meddled in the redistricting fight between Texas and California as if Springfield had jurisdiction over Austin or Sacramento. And now, he’s using Chicago’s crisis as a platform to audition for a 2028 presidential run.
