In a fiery press conference on Monday, August 12, 2025, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sharply criticized President Donald Trump following the president’s remarks threatening to deploy the National Guard to Chicago.
The clash comes days after Trump authorized the Guard’s deployment to Washington, D.C., and labeled both Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker “incompetent.”
Mayor Johnson accused the president of undermining the Constitution and using fear tactics to divide the country.
“I have never seen a president more off than Donald Trump, just off the rockers,” Johnson said. “He’s exacerbating the problem here… shredding our Constitution. He’s dangerous. We have seen this before. And inch by inch, he continues to see what he will get away with. I wish it were just a joke.”
The mayor framed the dispute as a national issue that extends beyond his administration.
“This is not just about Mayor Brandon Johnson in this moment,” he added. “This is about one nation that he is working overtime to divide and conquer.”
The confrontation raises constitutional questions about the limits of presidential authority to send federal forces into cities without state consent, a legal matter that has historically drawn challenges under the Tenth Amendment and the Posse Comitatus Act.
Legal scholars note that while the president can invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces domestically, such actions are subject to judicial review and political backlash.
