USA Report: National Guard deployment in Chicago as early as September
According to a report in the "Washington Post", the Pentagon wants to deploy the National Guard in Chicago as early as September to fight crime. The plans include several options, including the deployment of several thousand members of the US Army's military reserve unit to the third-largest US city in the state of Illinois, the newspaper reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. According to the newspaper, the White House and the Pentagon declined to comment.
24.08.2025, 08:30
SDA
They did not want to speculate about future operations, according to the Department of Defense. The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, and the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, accused the Republican US president Donald Trump of creating chaos. "After using Los Angeles and Washington D.C. as testing grounds for authoritarian assaults, Trump is now openly toying with the idea of taking over other states and cities," Pritzker said.
On Platform X, he wrote that Trump and the Republicans are trying to portray their party as the party of law and order. "That couldn't be further from the truth."
Trump's actions highly controversial
Most recently, Trump had activated the National Guard to curb the allegedly out-of-control crime in the US capital Washington. He also placed the local police under federal control. His actions in Washington are highly controversial - there have already been protests. Police statistics do not provide any evidence of an increase in crime.
In June, despite protests in Los Angeles, Trump deployed 4,000 members of the California National Guard and 700 active marines - following demonstrations against deportation raids by the immigration authority ICE.
Trump had already said on Friday: "We are going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess." He denied the local Democratic mayor's authority.
Operation in Chicago planned for a long time
Officials familiar with the matter said, according to the Washington Post, that a military intervention in Chicago has long been planned, likely in conjunction with expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations to search for undocumented immigrants.
The states usually have control over the National Guard. However, in special situations - such as natural disasters, riots and domestic emergencies - the president can place them under federal command. In the special case of the US capital, which is not a separate state, the National Guard reports directly to the President anyway.
