Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is about to be put to the test.
As President Trump threatens to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, Pritzker, a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, has a chance to win the hearts of Democrats by standing up to the president and demonstrating an eagerness to fight.
Pritzker has escalated his attacks on Trump, calling the president a “wannabe dictator” and threatening to take the administration to court if they bring troops to his state.
Democrats say it’s a moment for Pritzker to highlight his political gravitas against would-be 2028 competitors like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has garnered media attention for taking on Trump.
“A lot of people will be watching how he handles this moment,” said one Democratic strategist. “It could either position him as the fighter Democrats want, or he could be perceived as Newsom-lite or someone who shouldn’t be thinking about running for president at all.”
Democratic strategist Eddie Vale added that Pritzker “is in a situation right now where doing the right thing to help people is also good politics” while Trump is “trying to start a fire of hatred.”
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” an immigration crackdown targeting Chicago. Trump said the Chicago effort’s aim was to help people as he accused Pritzker of refusing help from the federal government.
“What is wrong with this guy?” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social.
Pritzker was quick to pounce: “’I want to help people, not hurt them,’ says the guy who just threatened an American city with the Department of War.”
That was a reference to Trump’s weekend social media bomb that showed military-style helicopters flying over the Windy City, with Trump’s face superimposed on a crouching “Apocalypse Now”-era Robert Duvall.
Of Operation Midway Blitz, Pritzker said in a post on the social platform X: “One again, this isn’t about fighting crime. That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks.”
“Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump Administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisans.”
Separately, a spokesperson for Pritzker said the White House had not officially notified the governor’s office about the operation.
“Like the public and the press, we are learning of their operations through their social media as they attempt to produce a reality television show,” spokesperson Matt Hill said. “Unlike Trump’s reality show, we don’t like keeping people in the dark.”
Pritzker has repeatedly made headlines for scrapping with Trump and Republicans.
Last month, after Democrats in the Texas Legislature left the state to prevent a vote on the state’s redistricting, he said the lawmakers were “doing the right thing” and vowed to protect them.
During a speech in New Hampshire in April — an event many Democrats took as a sign that Pritzker would be running for president in 2028 — he urged fellow Democrats to oppose the Republican agenda at all costs.
“It’s time to fight, everywhere, all at once,” Pritzker said.
“Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he later added.
The new battle has arguably gained him the most notoriety to date.
During a press conference late last month, Pritzker acknowledged that while crime in Chicago was a problem, Trump and Republican lawmakers made matters worse with a string of federal funding cuts that hurt cities.
“Trump is defunding the police,” Pritzker said.
Polling shows Pritzker is on the right side of public opinion. A CBS/YouGov poll this month showed that 58 percent of those surveyed oppose Trump’s use of the National Guard to fight crime in cities, while 42 percent approved of it.
“Pritzker isn’t punching back, he’s often punching first,” said Democratic consultant Tracy Sefl, who is based in Illinois. “Democrats all know where Trump is weak, and Pritzker never hesitates to go there.”
Pritzker has been overshadowed nationally so far by Newsom, who has moved up in Democratic presidential polls while aggressively going after Trump. An Emerson survey out last month showed Newsom with 25 percent support to Pritzker’s 4 percent.
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last month, Pritzker was noncommittal about whether he will run for president.
“I can’t rule anything out,” Pritzker told the show’s moderator Kristen Welker. “But what I can rule in is that no matter what decisions I make, and I mean in particular about what I do here in the state of Illinois, is about the people of Illinois.”
“Indeed, any future decisions of mine will always be guided by that,” he added.
Still, the National Guard fight has positioned Pritzker well should he decide to run for president.
“He definitely raised his profile and could be in the conversation for president, but he’s not perceived to have those ambitions to the level of, say, Newsom,” said Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist. “On the one hand, he and Newsom need these high-profile standoffs to maintain public interest.”
“On the other hand,” he added, “the nature of these battles is something no one wants to see.”
