CHICAGO – Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing back against former President Donald Trump’s suggestion to deploy the National Guard to address crime in the city, asserting his management is exploring legal options to prevent such action.

Trump referenced his deployment of the National Guard in Washington,D.C., and indicated chicago and New York City could be next.While trump framed the D.C. deployment as a crime reduction effort, many critics viewed it as an abuse of power.

“The guard is not needed,” Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters. “This is not the role of our military. the brave men and women who signed up to serve our country did not sign up to occupy American cities.”

Johnson highlighted Chicago’s progress in reducing crime, citing data indicating declines in murders, shootings, and car thefts. According to Chicago police data, murders have decreased by 31%, shootings by 36%, and vehicle thefts by 26% compared to the same period last year.

“The things that we’re doing in Chicago by investing in people, youth employment, mental health care, services, building more affordable homes, making sure that our detectives bureau has all the resources that it needs … that’s why we’re seeing the results that we are experiencing right now,” he stated.

“Occupying our cities with the military – that’s not how we build safe and affordable communities,” Johnson added.

Johnson questioned Trump’s previous decisions to cut federal funding for violence prevention programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Medicaid, arguing these actions contradict a genuine desire to reduce violence in major cities.

“The National Guard is not going to put food on people’s table. The National Guard is not going to reduce unemployment,” Johnson stated.

The mayor’s office released a statement confirming collaboration with Illinois’ governor and cook County to assess “all of our legal options to protect the people of Chicago from unconstitutional federal overreach.”

Edwin Yohnka, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, suggested Trump woudl face legal challenges if the National Guard were deployed in Chicago without sufficient justification.

“There’s a higher barrier for the president to send National Guard into Chicago [than into D.C.]because there has to be a reason or he has to have the agreement of the governor of the state of illinois. And clearly, from what we see, he’s not going to have that. He’s going to have to articulate a reason for doing it. I think that reason will be challenged by the state of Illinois,” Yohnka saeid.

He added that the ACLU of Illinois would monitor the conduct of deployed troops and challenge any unlawful arrests, detentions, or excessive force.

Speaking at the Oval office, Trump stated that he had not finalized any plans regarding Chicago and had not discussed troop deployment with Johnson.

He claimed, however, that people in the city “are screaming for us to come.”

“When we’re ready, and we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C. Chicago is vrey dangerous,” Trump said.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized Trump, accusing him of “attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families.”

Chicago Officials Respond

“The federal National Guard isn’t going to make a difference in carjacking in Chicago.”

Alderman Brian Hopkins, chair of the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee, acknowledged the need to further reduce crime but argued Trump’s National Guard proposal is misguided.

“We still see an unacceptably high number of robberies, carjackings, burglaries, break-ins. We have work to do, but we need help that makes sense,” Alderman Brian Hopkins said. “The federal National Guard isn’t going to make a difference in carjacking in Chicago. If he really wanted to help, we’re short 2,000 police officers. Sadly, that is not what Trump is talking about.”

Trump has also suggested deploying the Guard to Baltimore and has criticized Maryland Gov. wes Moore on social media.

Moore responded in a statement, saying Trump “would rather attack his country’s largest cities from behind a desk than walk the streets with the people he represents.”

Past Deployments

trump’s use of the National guard has differed from that of previous administrations.

the Guard is typically deployed during crises like natural disasters and civil unrest. In June, Trump deployed National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles amid protests against immigration raids, against the wishes of California Gov.Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

The deployment in D.C. has also drawn scrutiny. Despite being presented as a response to rising crime, data indicates violent crime in the nation’s capital has decreased by 26% compared to the previous year, according to D.C. police data.