Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is under fire for claiming that Chicago residents will “rise up” against the Trump Administration if and when the president deploys National Guard personnel and federal agents to combat rampant crime and disorder.

While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump discussed his recent federal takeover of Washington D.C. and shared plans to expand to other cities. While Trump can only federalize the police force in D.C. under the Home Rule Act — which he has done — federal agents and National Guard personnel can still be deployed throughout the interior United States at his discretion.

“After we do this will go to another location, and we’ll make it safe, also. We’re going to make our country very safe,” the president said. “We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago’s a mess.”

He went on to refer to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as “grossly incompetent” and said his administration will be taking an increased role in tackling crime in the Windy City. “That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come,” Trump said while turning to Vice President Vance.

“They’re wearing red hats, just like this one. But they’re wearing red hats. African-American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘please, President Trump, come to Chicago.’ Please. I did great with the black vote, as you know.”

Johnson’s Office initially released a statement claiming Trump’s deployment of National Guard personnel would be “unlawful.” While speaking with MSNBC on Sunday, Johnson took things much further by calling on citizens to “rise up” against the Trump Administration.

“And so, you know, look, we’re going to remain firm. We’ll take legal action. But the people of this city are accustomed to rising up against tyranny,” the mayor told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “And if that’s necessary, I believe that the people of Chicago will stand firm alongside of me as I work every single day to protect the people of this city.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is under fire for claiming that Chicago residents will “rise up” against the Trump Administration if and when the president deploys National Guard personnel and federal agents to combat rampant crime and disorder.

While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump discussed his recent federal takeover of Washington D.C. and shared plans to expand to other cities. While Trump can only federalize the police force in D.C. under the Home Rule Act — which he has done — federal agents and National Guard personnel can still be deployed throughout the interior United States at his discretion.

“After we do this will go to another location, and we’ll make it safe, also. We’re going to make our country very safe,” the president said. “We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago’s a mess.”

He went on to refer to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as “grossly incompetent” and said his administration will be taking an increased role in tackling crime in the Windy City. “That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come,” Trump said while turning to Vice President Vance.

“They’re wearing red hats, just like this one. But they’re wearing red hats. African-American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘please, President Trump, come to Chicago.’ Please. I did great with the black vote, as you know.”

Johnson’s Office initially released a statement claiming Trump’s deployment of National Guard personnel would be “unlawful.” While speaking with MSNBC on Sunday, Johnson took things much further by calling on citizens to “rise up” against the Trump Administration.

“And so, you know, look, we’re going to remain firm. We’ll take legal action. But the people of this city are accustomed to rising up against tyranny,” the mayor told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “And if that’s necessary, I believe that the people of Chicago will stand firm alongside of me as I work every single day to protect the people of this city.”

It is unclear who will be “rising up” alongside Johnson, however, as the mayor currently enjoys a historically low approval rating of just 26 percent.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker echoed Johnson’s comments in a statement of his own, in which he accused the president of attempting to “manufacture” a reason to address one of the most consistently crime-ridden cities in the nation. “Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families. We’ll continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect Illinoisans,” he said.

Despite objections from Illinois Democrats, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News that the administration is indeed preparing to deploy assets to Chicago. He added that the deployment has been planned “for weeks.”

President Trump previously federalized the California National Guard in order to address days-long civil unrest in response to immigration enforcement raids. California filed an emergency lawsuit to stop the deployment, which was unsuccessful.

Roughly 800 National Guard and Marine Corps personnel have remained in California since they were first deployed back in June, and will remain in place at the discretion of Secretary Hegseth.