Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) accused President Trump of deploying National Guard troops to American cities to ensure Republicans keep control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.
“It’s about his authoritarian need to control,” Pritzker told MSNBC on Tuesday. “That whole endeavor is really about making sure that he can effectuate the rest of his agenda for the remaining two years of his four-year term.”
Trump last week established the Memphis Safe Task Force to send federal law enforcement, including the National Guard, to Memphis.
On Sept. 9, the Memphis Police Department touted the city’s crime rate reaching a 25-year low. According to FBI data, however, Memphis has the highest crime rate of any American city through the first eight months of the year, with 2,501 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
During that announcement, the president said that Chicago is “probably next.” That city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson (D), has pushed back against federal law enforcement deploying to Chicago.
“No federal troops in the city of Chicago. No militarized force in the city of Chicago,” Johnson said on Sept. 2. According to the Chicago Police Department’s annual report, the city saw a 6 percent decrease in violent crime last year relative to 2023.
Trump’s federal law enforcement expansion began in Los Angeles in June, when he deployed roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines amid protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city.
On Sept. 2, a federal judge ruled that the president’s actions were illegal, citing an 1878 law that prevents federal troops from interfering with civilian law enforcement.
Last month, Trump deployed the Washington, D.C., National Guard and placed the district’s police department under federal authority. The president cited D.C.’s crime rate, claiming the deployment would “help reestablish law, order, and public safety.”
As of midnight Tuesday, violent crime in Washington is 28 percent lower than it was at this point last year, per the District’s official database. Violent crime in the city also decreased 35 percent from 2023 to 2024.
Six states — West Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina and Ohio — have since deployed their own National Guard troops to the nation’s capital. Earlier this month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) extended his state guard’s deployment to Washington through Nov. 30.
Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, told MSNBC that “we need to push back on the idea that troops can come into our cities.” He added that those concerned with their ability to vote should still do so.
“Speak up, megaphones and microphones, however you can, and make sure you show up and and are absolutely focused on getting to the ballot box and voting,” Pritzker said.
