After the federal takeover of the Washington, DC, police to combat the “crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor,” President Donald Trump has now set his sights on Chicago.
“Chicago’s a mess,” said Trump during a meeting at the Oval Office with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Aug. 22. “We’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this.”
Trump has singled out Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson before. Johnson told “Democracy Now!” that the city would not “cower or bend or be intimidated by these attempts to divide and conquer our communities.”
More: National Guard to start carrying weapons in DC this weekend as nearly 2,000 troops deploy
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On Aug. 11, Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops in Washington DC, declaring a public safety emergency. Several Republican states including Ohio, Mississippi, West Virginia and Louisiana have sent guardsmen to the capital to support the Trump Administration’s efforts. The troops are deployed at tourist-heavy locations such as the National Mall and transit hubs such as Union Station and Metro stops to aid local law enforcement.
The people in Chicago “are screaming for us to come,” he said.
“They’re wearing red hats just like this one. But they’re wearing red hats,” he said. “African American ladies, beautiful ladies are saying, please, president Trump, come to Chicago, please.”
After Chicago, Trump said New York will be next to get “help”.
Since the deployment of the troops, carjackings have decreased by 83%, robberies by 46%, car thefts by 21%, and overall violent crime by 22% compared to the previous seven days, according to Metropolitan Police Department’s police union.
Violent crime in Washington, DC, dropped 26% through Aug. 8, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Department. However, the city had the fourth-highest homicide rate among U.S. cities, after St. Louis, New Orleans and Detroit, at 27.3 per 100,000 residents in 2024.
Trump took a victory lap in DC on Aug. 21 and said during a meeting with law enforcement that he actions had made the city “safe.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago next on national guard’s federal takeover list, Trump says
