President Donald Trump on Monday slammed Illinois and Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker amid reports that planning is underway at the Pentagon for the potential use of National Guard forces in Chicago.
“When I have some slob like Pritzker criticizing us before we even go there — I made the statement that next should be Chicago because, as you all know, Chicago is a killing field right now and they don’t acknowledge it,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.
“A lot of people are saying: ‘Maybe we like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person,” Trump added.
Trump went back and forth over whether the government should send National Guard troops to other cities or wait to be asked.
President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
“We may wait. We may or may not. We may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do,” Trump said. “The problem is, it’s not nice when you go in and do it and somebody else is standing there saying, as we give great results, say, ‘Well, we don’t want the military.'”