Pritzker on Trump deploying troops to Chicago: ‘This is a man who’s suffering dementia’
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) suggested that President Trump is deploying federal troops in Chicago because he is “suffering dementia.”
In an interview Tuesday with The Chicago Tribune, the outspoken Trump critic and possible 2028 presidential candidate contended that Trump’s fixation on the Windy City comes from “something in the recesses of his brain.”
“This is a man who’s suffering dementia,” Pritzker said. “This is a man who has something stuck in his head. He can’t get it out of his head.”
“He doesn’t read. He doesn’t know anything that’s up to date,” he continued. “It’s just something in the recesses of his brain that is effectuating to have him call out these cities.”
“And then, unfortunately, he has the power of the military, the power of the federal government to do his bidding, and that’s what he’s doing.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for a response.
The Trump administration has sought to mobilize National Guard troops and has surged federal immigration officers into Chicago despite objections from Pritzker and the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson. The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Monday sued to block Trump’s deployment of National Guard members to the city.
The Department of Defense over the weekend federalized up to 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, despite Pritzker’s warnings.
Trump also directed 400 federalized Texas National Guard members to be sent to Chicago, Portland, Ore., and potentially other locations “where needed,” according to a memorandum filed Sunday in Oregon’s lawsuit fighting the deployment efforts there.
Trump on Wednesday said Pritzker and Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officers!”