In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing power struggle between state and federal authorities, former President Donald Trump has publicly demanded the imprisonment of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. The call, issued on Trump’s Truth Social platform on October 9, 2025, marks an extraordinary moment in American politics, intensifying a bitter dispute over the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago and the city’s stance on federal immigration enforcement.
Trump’s post accused Pritzker and Johnson of “failing to protect ICE Officers,” referencing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. This accusation came amid fierce resistance from Illinois officials to Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda, including controversial ICE raids and the recent arrival of Texas National Guard units in the city. According to Reuters, a federal judge had just declined to immediately block the deployment, allowing the situation to escalate further.
The president’s move is seen by many as a break from long-standing norms. Traditionally, the Justice Department has maintained independence from the White House, but Trump’s direct calls for the prosecution and jailing of political opponents have become increasingly frequent. In recent weeks, he also suggested California Governor Gavin Newsom should face jail, highlighting his growing tendency to target Democratic leaders who oppose his policies.
Governor Pritzker wasted no time responding to Trump’s demand. At a federal workers rally in Chicago’s Federal Plaza, he addressed reporters with characteristic defiance: “Look, he’s a coward. He says a lot of things. He likes to pretend to be a tough guy. Come and get me.” Pritzker went further, calling Trump “demented” and “literally unhinged.” He questioned what kind of country the United States had become, asking, “What kind of country are we living in where the president of the United States is targeting his political opponents? These are people who stand against him, disagree with him, speak out about it, but literally have done nothing wrong.”
On X (formerly Twitter), Pritzker warned that Trump’s rhetoric signaled something much darker: “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?” The governor’s willingness to confront Trump head-on has only solidified his standing within the Democratic Party, with some viewing him as a potential White House contender in 2028.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, for his part, delivered a forceful rebuttal. Speaking on WBEZ’s In the Loop, Johnson characterized Trump as “unstable” and “a double-minded man.” He also drew attention to the racial undertones of Trump’s demand, stating, “It’s totally not the first time that Trump has called for a Black man to be arrested. That’s not the first time. Look, I have a responsibility to defend Chicago, and that’s what I’m going to do.” On X, Johnson was equally resolute: “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
The legal and political standoff has profound implications. Illinois and Chicago have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the National Guard deployment, which Pritzker has labeled a “military-style invasion.” The governor has accused Trump’s federal agents of creating fear and separating families, describing the use of military troops as an “invasion” of his state. At a press briefing, Pritzker even showed reporters Department of Homeland Security video of recent ICE raids, including one in South Shore where a U.S. citizen was zip-tied and children were loaded into U-Haul vans without clothing.
Despite the high stakes, Pritzker injected a note of grim humor during an event in Minnesota with Governor Tim Walz. When asked if he truly believed he could be arrested, Pritzker quipped, “I’m asking any of you to come visit me in the gulag in El Salvador.” The joke belied the seriousness of the confrontation, which many Democrats and civil rights advocates view as a dangerous slide toward authoritarianism.
At the heart of the dispute is the question of federal versus state power. Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807—an obscure federal law that allows a president to deploy military forces within the country to suppress civil disorder or rebellion—underscores his willingness to override state authority. While the act’s use is rare and fraught with controversy, its mere mention has heightened anxiety among Chicago residents and city officials alike.
Ironically, Trump’s justification for the National Guard deployment—Chicago’s alleged crime crisis—appears at odds with the facts. Police statistics show a significant drop in most major crimes, including homicides, contradicting the former president’s narrative of a city in chaos. Nevertheless, the presence of outside troops and federal agents has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear, with local leadership scrambling to assert control.
The situation on the ground has been tense. Protesters have clashed with agents outside a detention center in Broadview, outside Chicago. In one incident, a woman was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent during a car ramming event in Brighton Park. Federal prosecutors dismissed charges against a Chicago couple arrested near the Broadview ICE facility, while filing charges against others involved in violent confrontations with federal agents. The legal aftermath has only added to the sense of crisis.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, when pressed about the crimes Trump believed Pritzker and Johnson had committed, failed to specify any, instead accusing the officials of having “blood on their hands.” She cited Chicago Police Department reports that at least five people were killed and 25 shot over the weekend, asserting, “Instead of taking action to stop the crime, these Trump-Deranged buffoons would rather allow the violence to continue and attack the President for wanting to help make their city safe again.”
For Pritzker, the conflict is about more than just local control. He has argued that Trump is attempting to militarize cities to influence the outcome of the 2026 election by impeding voting efforts in Democratic strongholds like Chicago. The governor, who is seeking a third term, has sidestepped questions about higher ambitions but remains a prominent critic of Trump’s leadership style, even likening him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chicago’s status as a “sanctuary” city—limiting cooperation between local police and federal immigration agents—has long put it in Trump’s crosshairs. Mayor Johnson has strengthened those protections, issuing executive orders that bar immigration agents from using city-owned land as staging areas for operations. He has accused Trump of waging a war on Chicago and showing animus toward women and people of color, noting that nearly one-third of the city’s 2.7 million residents are Black and a similar proportion are Hispanic.
As the federal lawsuit unfolds and immigration enforcement remains a flashpoint, the clash between Trump and Illinois leaders is likely to intensify, shaping the broader national debate over democracy, executive power, and civil liberties. The outcome could redefine the boundaries of state and federal authority for years to come.
The Chicago troop dispute, with its unprecedented call to jail a sitting governor and mayor, continues to test the foundations of American governance—leaving the rest of the country watching closely as the drama unfolds.
