--- title: Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime description: Trump has railed against crime in Chicago for years. Here are the facts. canonical: https://time.com/7311770/chicago-trump-crime-stats/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-22T21:51:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:10:21.886Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime og:description: Trump has railed against crime in Chicago for years. Here are the facts. og:url: https://time.com/7311770/chicago-trump-crime-stats/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa8b22a3160941a/6998c9437323af76012bcca5/Trump-Chicago-Crackdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Announces The FIFA World Cup 2026 Draw Will Take Place At The Kennedy Center og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime twitter:description: Trump has railed against crime in Chicago for years. Here are the facts. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa8b22a3160941a/6998c9437323af76012bcca5/Trump-Chicago-Crackdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime. Here Are the Facts About Crime in the City > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=feaea8e4-9a54-4258-9433-e5011358a029&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Plans to Expand Crime Crackdown to Chicago Similar to D.C. [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Plans to Expand Crime Crackdown to Chicago Similar to D.C.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jVPVfnta.m3u8) (1:47)  _Published 2025-08-22. Trump has railed against crime in Chicago for years. Here are the facts._ by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Aug 22, 2025 9:51 PM UTC by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Aug 22, 2025 9:51 PM UTC President Donald Trump said on Friday that his Administration will turn to Chicago next in its efforts to [crack down on crime](https://time.com/7311556/trump-threatens-dc-federal-takeover-crime-figures-dispute/), nearly two weeks after he took control of Washington, D.C.’s police force. “After we do this, we’ll go to another location and we’ll make it safe also,” Trump told reporters. “Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out, probably next.” The President said he hadn’t spoken to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson about his plans, but that his Administration would embark on the move “when we are ready.” “Chicago is very dangerous,” Trump said. “I hate to see what has happened to Chicago.” Trump has railed against crime in Chicago for years, calling the city “a shooting disaster” as early as [2013](https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/369799276458962944?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E369799276458962944%7Ctwgr%5E88544c53a4c11a2b93fb5acbfbbb10136dff68c0%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fblockclubchicago.org%2F2024%2F07%2F31%2Fdonald-trump-and-chicago-have-a-rocky-history-heres-what-to-know%2F). While he was running for President in 2016, Trump [said](https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/752834632907943936?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E752834632907943936%7Ctwgr%5E88544c53a4c11a2b93fb5acbfbbb10136dff68c0%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fblockclubchicago.org%2F2024%2F07%2F31%2Fdonald-trump-and-chicago-have-a-rocky-history-heres-what-to-know%2F) on social media: “Crime is out of control, and rapidly getting worse. Look what is going on in Chicago and our inner cities. Not good!” During his first term, in 2020, Trump deployed federal agents to the city to “help drive down violent crime.” That deployment came as part of a broader program launched by the Justice Department that summer to send federal agents to multiple cities to address what Trump [referred](https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-operation-legend-combatting-violent-crime-american-cities/) to at the time as “a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders, and heinous crimes of violence.” Like Trump’s recent D.C. takeover, the controversial program drew concern from local [activists](https://time.com/5871348/trump-federal-deployment-chicago-violence/) and [leaders](https://time.com/5878817/operation-legend-mayors-albuquerque-chicago-kansas-city/). It was [discontinued](https://abc7chicago.com/post/operation-legend-donald-trump-chicago-violence-crime/10228777/) after Trump left office in 2021. Many cities across the country were [experiencing](https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/953254623/massive-1-year-rise-in-homicide-rates-collided-with-the-pandemic-in-2020) a spike in violent crime in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In Chicago, fatal and nonfatal shootings went up by about 55% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to city [data](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/vrd/home.html). Shootings in the city went up again in 2021, though this time only by 9%, before plummeting by nearly 21% the next year. Violent crime also climbed in the city in the leadup to Trump’s first term. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of homicides in the city jumped by 58% and the number of nonfatal shootings by 43%, according to the [University of Chicago Crime Lab](https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/attachments/c5b0b0b86b6b6a9309ed88a9f5bbe5bd892d4077/store/82f93d3e7c7cc4c5a29abca0d8bf5892b3a35c0c3253d1d24b3b9d1fa7b8/UChicagoCrimeLab+Gun+Violence+in+Chicago+2016.pdf). But the following years saw a decline in gun violence before rates climbed again early in the pandemic. And crime in Chicago has dropped by 15% since 2023, according to city police [data](https://www.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/1%5FPDFsam%5FCompStat-Public-2025-Week-31.pdf) released earlier this month. City data [show](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/vrd/home.html) that fatal and nonfatal shootings are down nearly 38% so far this year compared to the same period in 2024\. Homicides and robberies, meanwhile, are both down roughly 32%, and vehicular hijackings are down about 49% Trump’s remarks on Friday come after he [federalized](https://time.com/7308788/trump-washington-dc-national-guard/) D.C.’s police department and deployed National Guard troops on the streets on Aug. 11, citing violent crime—even though data showed that violent crime in the nation’s capital, as in Chicago, had already been [declining significantly](https://time.com/7308580/trump-dc-violent-crime/). When announcing the move, the President [said](https://time.com/7309031/democrats-respond-trump-washington-dc-takeover-national-guard-baltimore-chicago-los-angeles-new-york-oakland/) he would “look at other cities” too, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and Oakland. **Read more:** [_Trump Threatens ‘Complete Federal Takeover’ of Washington, D.C. as Feud Over City’s Crime Figures Escalates_](https://time.com/7311556/trump-threatens-dc-federal-takeover-crime-figures-dispute/) In his crackdown on the capital, Trump invoked a provision of the [D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973](https://time.com/7309000/dc-home-rule-act-trump/) that authorizes the President to take control of D.C.’s police department in “conditions of an emergency nature.” But legal experts [told TIME](https://time.com/7309176/trump-washington-dc-police-other-cities/) that Trump’s authority to take control of local police departments and deploy National Guard troops to cities other than D.C. is severely restricted by law. Johnson slammed Trump’s comments on Friday. The mayor [said](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/press%5Froom/press%5Freleases/2025/august/Statement-National-Guard-Chicago.html) in a press release that the city has made “historic progress” to tackle crime, citing recent statistics, and argued that deploying the National Guard to Chicago would risk undermining that work. Johnson added that while the city was taking Trump’s statements seriously, it had not received any formal communication from the federal government on this subject. “The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound,” Johnson said. “Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities.” ## Transcript [00:00] So, you know, I really I really am honored that [00:02] the the National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police. [00:07] And we haven't had to bring in the the regular military, [00:11] which we're willing to do if we have to. [00:14] And after we do this, [00:15] we'll go to another location and we'll make it safe. [00:18] Also, we're going to make our country very safe. [00:20] We're going to make our cities very, very safe. [00:23] Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. [00:26] Grossly incompetent. [00:27] And we'll straighten that one out. [00:29] Probably next. That'll be our next one after this. [00:31] Uh, and it won't even be tough. [00:34] And the people in Chicago, [00:36] Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come. [00:40] They're wearing red hats just like this one, [00:42] but they're wearing red hats. [00:44] Uh, African American ladies, [00:47] beautiful ladies are saying, please, [00:49] President Trump, come to Chicago, please. [00:52] Uh, I did great with the black vote, as you know. [00:55] And they want something to happen. [00:57] So I think Chicago will be our next. [00:59] And then we'll help with, uh, New York. [01:02] We're going to help with and I think really, [01:04] I think a lot of and a lot of these people that you see on television, [01:09] they including the people in this audience, [01:11] they'll say bad things about me and then they'll say, [01:13] thank God he's here because half of them got [01:16] mugged and they don't want to get mugged again. [01:18] Mr. president, on crime. [01:20] On D.C. crime. [01:21] You said Chicago might be next. [01:23] Uh, are you making have there been [01:26] concrete steps that the administration is taking to do that, [01:28] or what are other cities as well? [01:30] I haven't spoken to him. He's grossly incompetent. [01:32] I haven't spoken to the mayor. [01:33] No. When we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago, [01:36] just like we did D.C.. Chicago is very dangerous. [01:39] Great place I built. Great stuff there. [01:41] I have a I have the most beautiful building in Chicago, I think. 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