Trump Plans to Deploy National Guard Troops in Chicago: Reports

The Trump administration has reportedly been planning for weeks to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago as part of a broader crackdown on crime and immigration, according to multiple US media sources.

Unidentified officials told The Washington Post that the Pentagon has been drafting plans that could mobilise several thousand National Guard members to the nation’s third-largest city as early as September.

A Pentagon spokesperson declined to confirm the reports, stating: “We won’t speculate on further operations. The Department is a planning organisation and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”

The reports follow recent deployments of National Guard troops by President Trump in Washington, DC, where personnel were expected to carry weapons. Trump indicated that Chicago and New York, both major Democratic-led cities, would receive similar measures.

“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”

The proposed Chicago deployment would resemble Trump’s controversial June operation in Los Angeles, where 4,000 California National Guard members and 700 active-duty Marines were sent despite objections from state authorities. Sources indicated the operation would also support an expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown targeting undocumented migrants.

Both Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Democrats, have strongly rejected the plan.

According to the Chicago Police Department, the city recorded 573 homicides in 2024, representing an 8% decrease compared to the previous year. Despite this decline, concerns about urban crime remain central to the Trump administration’s messaging on public safety.