President Donald Trump escalated his feud with Chicago on Saturday, posting a meme that read: "I love the smell of deportations in the morning ... Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR." He signed an executive order a day earlier to rebrand the Pentagon as the "Department of War." The image -- apparently AI-generated -- shows him in a hat and sunglasses above the skyline, stamped "Chipocalypse Now."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called the post "not normal." "The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal," he wrote on X. City officials are bracing for a large immigration enforcement operation that could start soon, with personnel from Immigration and Border Protection as well as Customs and Border Protection already arriving, according to White House officials.
The White House says the Chicago action is separate from Trump's broader crime initiative, which contemplates using federal law enforcement and National Guard troops. When asked about Guard deployments, Trump replied, "We're going," adding, "I didn't say when. We're going in." Officials say the administration reserves the right to call in the Guard if the response warrants it.
The plan echoes a June operation in Los Angeles. A federal judge ruled this week that the LA deployment violated laws that bar the military from most domestic law enforcement; the administration has appealed. That ruling raises new questions about scope and oversight should Chicago see a similar approach.
City's Mayor Brandon Johnson said the president's threats "are beneath the honor of our nation," arguing, "We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump." Sen. Tammy Duckworth blasted the post as "Stolen valor at its worst," writing, "Take off that Cavalry hat, you draft dodger. You didn't earn the right to wear it." Rep. Mike Quigley warned the episode shows Trump "edging more and more toward authoritarianism."