CHICAGO, Oct. 8 — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday sharply criticized President Donald Trump after the president said he and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker should be jailed for opposing federal law enforcement deployments in the state.
“First of all, this president is unstable, unhinged, a double-minded individual that, quite frankly, is a threat to our democracy,” Johnson said in an interview with CNN’s The Situation Room.
Johnson added that Trump’s remarks continued a pattern of “unjustly” targeting Black officials. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m going to stay firm as the mayor of this amazing city … and we’re going to defend all of Chicago.”
Trump earlier alleged that Johnson and Pritzker “should be in jail for failing to protect [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officers!” His comments followed reports of friction between state officials and federal authorities over increased immigration enforcement in Chicago.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said there had been resistance to a federal plan to send more agents to the city. Both Johnson and Pritzker have rejected efforts to deploy National Guard troops from Texas to Illinois, calling the move unconstitutional and unnecessary.
“I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?” Pritzker said in a post responding to Trump’s statement.
He later accused federal officers of “grabbing people off the street” and “separating children from their parents.”
Johnson said his administration has had no formal communication with Washington over the deployment, calling the actions “illegal” and beyond the president’s authority. “We know this president is working outside the bounds of the constitution,” he said. “There are National Guard from the state of Texas that are being ‘trained’ just outside of the city of Chicago. These individuals do not have policing powers. They do not have arresting powers.”
Illinois and the City of Chicago filed suit Monday to block the deployment of National Guard personnel, following a similar legal move in Oregon where a federal judge temporarily halted Trump’s order to send troops to Portland.
“The judge right now in Illinois is looking at what exactly is the mission of the National Guard from the state of Texas,” Johnson said. “We know this is illegal, unconstitutional. That’s already been proven in the courts in Oregon, and we fully expect the same ruling here.”
The White House has not yet responded to the comments from Johnson or Pritzker. The case is expected to advance in federal court later this week.
