Democratic lawmakers quickly denounced President Donald Trump‘s threat to target Chicago with the newly-renamed Department of War, as a crime crackdown and increased ICE operations in the Windy City loom.
On Saturday, Trump posted an AI-generated image titled “Chipocalypse Now” on Truth Social that features the president in a military outfit, helicopters near the Chicago skyline, and flames behind him. The meme, which plays on the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, is captioned with a quote that says “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” as well as the threat to use the War Department in any possible law enforcement operations in the city.
Democrats, particularly from the state of Illinois, were quick to weigh in on the post that is the latest instance of Trump teasing a National Guard deployment to the city as part of a crime crackdown.
Both Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned the post, with Pritzker labeling Trump a “wannabe dictator.”
“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,” the Illinois governor added.
Johnson also slammed it as an example of “authoritarianism,” while calling for the public to begin “protecting” Chicago from the president.
“The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution,” Johnson added.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), an Army veteran, responded by calling the post an example of “stolen valor” due to its depiction of Trump, who never served in the military and previously avoided the draft five times, mainly for college.
“Take off that Cavalry hat, you draft dodger. You didn’t earn the right to wear it. Stolen valor at its worst,” Duckworth said.
One notable figure outside of Illinois also chimed in, namely Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who has already seen Trump deploy the National Guard to his state over frequently violent anti-ICE riots earlier this year.
“The President of the United States is deploying the military onto US streets and using our troops like political pawns. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BECOME NUMB TO THIS,” Newsom said.
The backlash comes as the Trump administration is already making moves on the immigration front in the Windy City.
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Late this week, the War Department approved the use of a Naval base outside the city as a staging area for conducting federal immigration raids.
The same base could also be used for housing National Guard members if Trump decides to pursue a similar operation as his Washington, D.C., crime crackdown, something he has floated over the past two weeks.
