Trump condemned the violence while calling for bringing in the federal government to the Windy City and rebuked Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) over the shootings. 

“14 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago, four DEAD! What does failed Governor Pritzker, and the equally pathetic Mayor, say now?” Trump posted to his Truth Social account. “BRING IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND BRING THEM IN NOW!!!”

Pritzker and Johnson have feuded with the president over the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago to deter violent crime in the city. The governor and the mayor have called Trump’s desire to deploy troops unnecessary and an abuse of power by Trump. 

“This is about authoritarianism,” Johnson previously said. “It’s about stoking fear. It’s about breaking the Constitution that would give him that much more control over our American cities.”

Illinois and Chicago sued the administration in October to block the deployment. 

“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” read the lawsuit.” To guard against this, foundational principles of American law limit the president’s authority to involve the military in domestic affairs. Those bedrock principles are in peril.”

Judge April M. Perry of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois blocked Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago on Oct. 9. Perry ruled that the Trump administration was “temporarily enjoined from ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois.” 

After the Trump administration appealed, the ​​United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld that ruling on Oct. 16.

“Because we conclude that the factors weigh against a stay of the deployment order pending appeal, IT IS ORDERED that the motion to stay pending appeal is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part,” the court ruled. “We continue to STAY the district court’s October 9, 2025, order only to the extent it enjoined the federalization of the National Guard within the state. The administration remains barred from deploying the National Guard of the United States within Illinois.”

The Trump administration filed an emergency petition to the Supreme Court on Oct. 17 to overturn the lower court’s rulings. On Wednesday, Perry extended her previous ruling and blocked the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago indefinitely.