CHICAGO (WGN) — Mayor Brandon Johnson will address the media during his weekly briefing on Tuesday, just a day after issuing a response to President Trump’s comments regarding potential plans to tackle crime in the city.
On Tuesday, Mayor Johnson will meet with the media at City Hall for a weekly briefing.
While it is unclear if the mayor will address the recent comments by the president regarding crime in the city, the briefing comes just a day after President Trump announced he was taking federal control of the Washington, D.C., police department and deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital in an effort to tackle what he called “crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor.”
But while announcing the plans, the president said his administration would take similar steps in other cities if needed, including Chicago.
National Guard troops arrive in Washington DC as Trump’s federal takeover begins
“And if we need to, we’re going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster,” Trump said.
The president used the opportunity to criticize Mayor Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
“We have a mayor there who is totally incompetent, he’s an incompetent man. And we have an incompetent governor there,” Trump said. “Pritzker is an incompetent, his family threw him out of the business, and he ran for governor. And now I understand he wants to be president. But I noticed he lost a little weight so maybe he has a chance? You never know what happens.”
Following the remarks, Mayor Johnson responded, telling the president he has no right or legal ability to send troops into the city of Chicago.
President Trump takes over D.C. police force
“As to everything else he has to say this morning, I guess I should say thank you for the compliment,” Pritzker said. “I reject criticism and don’t really want to respond to criticism from Donald Trump, who inherited his money and then went bankrupt six times and then defrauded his business partners. And by the way, he cheats at golf.”
Johnson later took to X to offer a more detailed response.
“From my first day in office, public safety has been my top priority. In just two years we have made historic progress, driving down homicides by more than 30% and reducing shootings by almost 40% in the last year alone. Last week, we learned that President Trump cut another $158 million in funding for violence prevention programs in cities like Chicago. These cuts are on top of the Trump administration dismantling the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and terminating more than $800 million in grants for anti-violence programs across the country,” the mayor said. “If President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence. Sending in the National Guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts.“
What’s next as Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
While the president claims crime is out of control in Chicago, police statistics show a downward trend.
Currently, violent crime is down year to year 23%, shooting incidents are down 37% and the city is on track to have fewer than 500 homicides.
Through Aug. 10, there were 249 homicides in Chicago compared to 100 more by this time last year.
Tuesday’s briefing is set to take place at 10 a.m. and will be live-streamed in the video player at the top of this story.
