U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will be ordering National Guard deployment to Chicago despite Illinois officials opposing the move.
The president’s comments came on Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office while he was making an announcement about the U.S. Space Command being moved from Colorado to Alabama.
Reporters asked Trump if he had decided to send National Guard troops to Chicago and he responded by saying, “We’re going in.” He did not provide a timeframe.
Trump referenced the number of people who had been shot and murdered in the city over the weekend.
“In the last three weeks he’s [Governor Pritzker] lost almost 20 people killed. There’s no place in the world, including you can go to Afghanistan. They don’t even come close to this,” Trump said.
The president called Chicago a “hellhole” and also made the same comment about Baltimore.
“I would love to have Governor Pritzker call me. I’d gain respect for him. And say, ‘we do have a problem and we’d love for you to send in the troops because the people have to be protected,'” Trump said.
The president has touted his federalization of the nation’s capital’s police department and deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. as a success.
Trump said he has an obligation to protect people. “Let me tell you a little story about a place called D.C… District of Columbia, where we are. It’s now a safe zone. We have no crime.”
“If the governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it. Now we’re going to do it anyway because I have an obligation to protect this country and that includes Baltimore,” the president said.
Shortly after Trump made his comments about sending the National Guard to Chicago, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker held a press conference addressing the residents of Illinois.
The governor called the president’s remarks from moments earlier “unhinged,” saying he would not call the president and ask for troops to be deployed.
Pritzker said the Trump administration is not working in coordination with the state and local officials. “Chicago does not want troops on our streets.”
“I refuse to play a reality game show with Donald Trump again. What I want are the federal dollars that have been promised to Illinois and Chicago for violence prevention programs,” Pritzker said.