Today, President Trump reiterated his vow to send national guard troops into Chicago. Last week HHS Director Kristi Noem officially requested space at Naval Station Great Lakes for expanded federal operations.
Trump said, “Chicago’s very interesting, because I watched them say ‘We don’t need help, we’re safe,’ but two weeks ago, they had six people murdered and they had 24 people hit by bullets,” he said. “Chicago is a hellhole right now.”
He did not specify when he intends to direct troops there.
“If the governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it, now, we’re going to do it anyway,” Trump said. “We have the right to do it, because I have an obligation to protect this country.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker does not welcome Trump’s uninvited incursion. “He has no idea what he’s talking about. There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops,” Pritzker said. “He is insulting the people of Chicago by calling our home a hellhole, and anyone who takes his word at face value is insulting Chicago too.”
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued an order prohibiting the use of troops in Los Angeles as was done by Trump in June. It appears he lacks the authority to do so in Illinois.
Numerous former military officials have spoken out against Trump’s use of the troops. Former Army Secretary Louis Caldera said, “Trump has broken a lot of norms. His predecessors would not use the military in this way.”