SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks to the press as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson listens on September 2, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
'Serious, Ominous Stuff': Trump Calls to Jail Johnson, Pritzker After Texas Invasion
One critic accused Trump of "pitting armed soldiers from one state against the citizens of another."
Oct 08, 2025
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker hours after members of the Texas National Guard arrived to patrol the streets of the third-largest US city.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the "Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers" and then added, "Governor Pritzker also!"
Sam Stein, a reporter at The Bulwark, described Trump's call to jail Johnson and Pritzker "serious, ominous stuff" in a post on X, and then recommended an article written by his colleague, Jonathan Last, who warned that the Texas National Guard is being used "to impose the president’s will on the citizens of Illinois."
Last then listed actions by federal immigration enforcement officials that he described as a ratcheting up of "extralegal violence against both immigrants and citizens in Chicago" aimed at provoking an angry local response that will then be used as a justification for further escalation.
"He is setting not just the federal government against one of the states, but pitting armed soldiers from one state against the citizens of another," Last warned.
Trump's threats to jail Johnson and Pritzker came on the same day that former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned in federal court after Trump directly lobbied for his indictment last month, even going so far as to fire the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he did not think there was a legitimate criminal case against Comey.
Trump on Tuesday officially deployed Texas National Guard troops to Chicago, purportedly to assist local law enforcement and federal immigration officials working in the area.
Since the president launched "Operation Midway Blitz" in September, hundreds of federal immigration agents have been deployed to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, where Pritzker has said they have caused "chaos" where none existed before they arrived—attacking a journalist and a priest with pepper balls at a protest outside an ICE facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.
In a speech delivered last week in front of hundreds of US generals, Trump laid out plans to use the American military to battle against a group of citizens whom he described as "the enemy from within."
"This is a war too," Trump said at one point during his speech. "It’s a war from within."
The president also said that he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that "we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military," after he listed San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles as "very dangerous places" that "we’re gonna straighten... out one by one."
Trump for decades has spoken in approving terms of governments that use the military to crush internal dissent. In a 1990 interview with Playboy, for instance, Trump said that the Chinese government "almost blew it" when student protesters flooded into Tiananmen Square.
"Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength," Trump said of China. "That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker hours after members of the Texas National Guard arrived to patrol the streets of the third-largest US city.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the "Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers" and then added, "Governor Pritzker also!"
Sam Stein, a reporter at The Bulwark, described Trump's call to jail Johnson and Pritzker "serious, ominous stuff" in a post on X, and then recommended an article written by his colleague, Jonathan Last, who warned that the Texas National Guard is being used "to impose the president’s will on the citizens of Illinois."
Last then listed actions by federal immigration enforcement officials that he described as a ratcheting up of "extralegal violence against both immigrants and citizens in Chicago" aimed at provoking an angry local response that will then be used as a justification for further escalation.
"He is setting not just the federal government against one of the states, but pitting armed soldiers from one state against the citizens of another," Last warned.
Trump's threats to jail Johnson and Pritzker came on the same day that former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned in federal court after Trump directly lobbied for his indictment last month, even going so far as to fire the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he did not think there was a legitimate criminal case against Comey.
Trump on Tuesday officially deployed Texas National Guard troops to Chicago, purportedly to assist local law enforcement and federal immigration officials working in the area.
Since the president launched "Operation Midway Blitz" in September, hundreds of federal immigration agents have been deployed to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, where Pritzker has said they have caused "chaos" where none existed before they arrived—attacking a journalist and a priest with pepper balls at a protest outside an ICE facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.
In a speech delivered last week in front of hundreds of US generals, Trump laid out plans to use the American military to battle against a group of citizens whom he described as "the enemy from within."
"This is a war too," Trump said at one point during his speech. "It’s a war from within."
The president also said that he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that "we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military," after he listed San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles as "very dangerous places" that "we’re gonna straighten... out one by one."
Trump for decades has spoken in approving terms of governments that use the military to crush internal dissent. In a 1990 interview with Playboy, for instance, Trump said that the Chinese government "almost blew it" when student protesters flooded into Tiananmen Square.
"Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength," Trump said of China. "That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak."
From Your Site Articles
- Trump Says Chicago 'Probably Next' for National Guard Invasion ›
- 'No Trump! No Troops!' Thousands March in Chicago as President Threatens 'War' ›
- Hearing Watch: Will AG Pam Bondi Own Up To Her Conflicts of Interest? ›
- Pritzker Warns Trump Will Have Military Seize Ballot Boxes So He Can 'Count the Votes Himself' in Elections | Common Dreams ›
- 'Evil, Fascist, Wannabe Authoritarian' Stephen Miller Threatens IL Gov. Pritzker With Arrest | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker hours after members of the Texas National Guard arrived to patrol the streets of the third-largest US city.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the "Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers" and then added, "Governor Pritzker also!"
Sam Stein, a reporter at The Bulwark, described Trump's call to jail Johnson and Pritzker "serious, ominous stuff" in a post on X, and then recommended an article written by his colleague, Jonathan Last, who warned that the Texas National Guard is being used "to impose the president’s will on the citizens of Illinois."
Last then listed actions by federal immigration enforcement officials that he described as a ratcheting up of "extralegal violence against both immigrants and citizens in Chicago" aimed at provoking an angry local response that will then be used as a justification for further escalation.
"He is setting not just the federal government against one of the states, but pitting armed soldiers from one state against the citizens of another," Last warned.
Trump's threats to jail Johnson and Pritzker came on the same day that former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned in federal court after Trump directly lobbied for his indictment last month, even going so far as to fire the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he did not think there was a legitimate criminal case against Comey.
Trump on Tuesday officially deployed Texas National Guard troops to Chicago, purportedly to assist local law enforcement and federal immigration officials working in the area.
Since the president launched "Operation Midway Blitz" in September, hundreds of federal immigration agents have been deployed to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, where Pritzker has said they have caused "chaos" where none existed before they arrived—attacking a journalist and a priest with pepper balls at a protest outside an ICE facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.
In a speech delivered last week in front of hundreds of US generals, Trump laid out plans to use the American military to battle against a group of citizens whom he described as "the enemy from within."
"This is a war too," Trump said at one point during his speech. "It’s a war from within."
The president also said that he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that "we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military," after he listed San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles as "very dangerous places" that "we’re gonna straighten... out one by one."
Trump for decades has spoken in approving terms of governments that use the military to crush internal dissent. In a 1990 interview with Playboy, for instance, Trump said that the Chinese government "almost blew it" when student protesters flooded into Tiananmen Square.
"Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength," Trump said of China. "That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak."
From Your Site Articles
- Trump Says Chicago 'Probably Next' for National Guard Invasion ›
- 'No Trump! No Troops!' Thousands March in Chicago as President Threatens 'War' ›
- Hearing Watch: Will AG Pam Bondi Own Up To Her Conflicts of Interest? ›
- Pritzker Warns Trump Will Have Military Seize Ballot Boxes So He Can 'Count the Votes Himself' in Elections | Common Dreams ›
- 'Evil, Fascist, Wannabe Authoritarian' Stephen Miller Threatens IL Gov. Pritzker With Arrest | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.