“We have crime like other cities do, but let’s be clear, we are actually in better shape than the 30 biggest cities across the United States,” he argued. “It’s important to understand that the president of the United States is doing this for theatrics.”<\/p>\n

“Calling the military into a U.S. 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 continued.<\/p>\n

He then gestured to his immediate surroundings, implying that the peaceful atmosphere of Chicago’s riverwalk was unanimous throughout the city.<\/p>\n

“Does this look like an emergency?” Pritzker said.<\/p>\n

Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) speaks at a news conference in a Chicago water taxi Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Nam Y. Huh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He said Trump hadn’t reached out to coordinate any such deployment.<\/p>\n

“No one from the White House or the executive branch has reached out to me or to the mayor,” Pritzker said. “No one has reached out to our staffs. No effort has been made to coordinate or to ask for our assistance in identifying any actions that might be helpful to us.”<\/p>\n

The Illinois governor also dabbled in popular Democratic speculation that Trump’s mental faculties were slipping, replicating Republican attacks against former President Joe Biden’s cognitive state. Pritzker had used the same attack angle during the 2024 campaign, often countering Trump’s criticism of Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris’s mental state by claiming he was projecting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PRITZKER SAYS TRUMP ‘NOT IN GOOD SHAPE’ AFTER NATIONAL GUARD THREATS: ‘TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump has long derided the state of Chicago, complaining of its Democratic administration and crime. He took his criticisms one step further on Friday, saying the city was “a mess” and might require the use of active-duty troops.<\/p>\n

“We’ll straighten that one out,” Trump said, adding that after Washington, D.C., “I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n