Trump walks back Chicago 'war' threat, but vows to 'clean up' cities [View all]
Source: NPR
September 7, 2025 6:41 PM ET
President Trump says he doesn't intend to "go to war" with American cities but is vowing to "clean them up" in his latest comments on an apparent plan to send National Guard troops to U.S. metropolitan areas to help fight crime or assist with deportations of suspected undocumented immigrants.
Trump was asked Sunday whether he was threatening war with Chicago following a post on his website Truth Social one day earlier. "We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our cities," Trump told reporters on Sunday as he left the White House. "We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war, that's common sense."
On Saturday, Trump posted online that Chicago was "about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR." (Last week Trump signed an order renaming the Defense Department, though Congress would have to officially change its title.) The social media post featured references to the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now as well as an image of Trump made up to look like a character from the movie, Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore.
In response to the post, Illinois' Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, wrote on X that Trump was "threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal." Pritzker added: "Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won't be intimidated by a wannabe dictator."
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/07/nx-s1-5533191/trump-chicago-threat-baltimore-new-orleans
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