US President Donald Trump has made new statements that have shaken the country's agenda.
According to Modern.az, he demanded the arrest of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
In addition, the Trump administration is preparing to send military forces to Chicago.
"Reuters" reports that the US leader stated that the Chicago and Illinois leadership was unable to protect immigration officials. He wrote on social media: “The Chicago mayor should be arrested for not protecting ICE officers! Governor Pritzker too!”
According to reports, hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers have already gathered at a military base near Chicago. This step was sharply criticized by both the state leadership and the city mayor. According to them, Trump “is trying to militarize cities under the pretext of lawlessness”.
Trump, however, stated that his goal is “to stop crime in America”. He also defended the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Washington, and Portland, calling these cities “training grounds for the army”.
A "Reuters/Ipsos" poll showed that the majority of Americans oppose the deployment of the army to cities without an external threat.
According to experts, Trump's move can be considered a pre-election political maneuver. Because in recent months, crime rates in the country have been decreasing, and protests are mostly peaceful.
Illinois Governor Pritzker, however, called the president's actions “an attempt to incite violence and legitimize militarization”. The state has already appealed to the court to prevent this decision.
Currently, a federal court has temporarily deemed the deployment of troops to Chicago legal, but the same decision for Portland has been blocked.
The Trump administration, however, announced that it could bypass any court decision by applying the “Insurrection Act”. The aforementioned law last came into force in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots.
Thus, political confrontation in the US is deepening, with the president wanting to send the army to cities on one side, and state leaders who evaluate this step as “a violation of democratic rules” on the other.
Observers warn that Trump's plan to “bring Chicago to order” could effectively be the beginning of a new crisis within the country.
