President Donald Trump issued a stark warning Tuesday that Chicago “will die” unless city and state leaders accept federal assistance to combat violent crime, pointing to a weekend of bloodshed that left 41 people shot and three dead.
Trump called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to request help from his administration, arguing that the level of violence in the city has spiraled beyond the ability of local officials to control.
“Chicago violence is unchecked and at record levels. It has never been worse!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “These numbers are becoming normalized. It is out of control!”
The president said Chicago faces further decline unless Pritzker or Johnson agrees to bring the federal government into the fight against crime.
“The city will die if the Federal Government, a fine tuned crime fighting machine, is not invited in, by the Mayor or Governor, to HELP,” Trump wrote. “I am awaiting the call.”
Trump’s warning came after an especially violent weekend in Chicago that included what authorities said was the city’s largest mass shooting of the year.
The mass shooting unfolded Saturday during a gathering in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood, where masked gunmen opened fire and struck 15 people, according to authorities.
Rontonio Guterz, 35, was killed in the attack, while 14 other victims ranging in age from 21 to 45 suffered gunshot wounds.
Authorities have not reported any arrests in connection with the Washington Park shooting and have not publicly identified potential suspects.
Elsewhere in the city, 15-year-old Kyren Wormely was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting in the South Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. The teenager was struck twice and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Crime statistics through Aug. 29 show that Chicago has recorded 1,255 shooting victims in 2026, representing a 0.7% increase compared with the corresponding period last year.
The city has also reported 288 homicide victims this year, a 2.9% rise from the 280 recorded during the same stretch of 2025. Fatalities specifically resulting from shootings have climbed more sharply, reaching 254, an increase of 11.4% over the same period last year.
Trump cited his administration’s federal crime-fighting measures in Washington, D.C., as an example of the approach he believes could rapidly reduce violence in Chicago.
“Nobody should be forced to live under these conditions,” Trump said. “Like D.C. and others, they will have almost no crime, FAST! The State and City can’t do what I do. Governor Pritzker, CALL!!!”
Pritzker and Johnson, however, have previously rejected Trump’s push for expanded federal involvement in addressing Chicago crime.
Pritzker has repeatedly sparred with Trump over the president’s previous threats to send National Guard forces into Chicago and has said Trump is “neither wanted nor needed” in the city.
Although the Illinois governor has said that gun violence has “no place” in Chicago, he has not asked the Trump administration to intervene.
Johnson has similarly declined Trump’s offer of federal assistance, maintaining that Chicago will continue relying on its own programs and policies aimed at reducing violence.
“We remain steadfast in our work to break these cycles of trauma by continuing to stop the flow of guns into our communities and investing in the resources that help prevent violence before it occurs,” Johnson said.
Trump has long targeted Chicago officials over the city’s crime problem and has previously raised the possibility of deploying National Guard personnel there.
In December, the Supreme Court prevented the Trump administration from sending National Guard troops into Chicago as part of an effort designed to provide protection for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The administration had gone to the Supreme Court seeking to reverse a lower-court decision, subsequently upheld on appeal, that barred the deployment. Trump’s administration had invoked a federal statute permitting a president, under certain conditions, to assume control of National Guard forces when federal laws cannot be enforced using “regular forces.”
Trump is scheduled to travel to the Chicago area later in September for the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Medinah Country Club, which gets underway Sept. 24.
The president announced Saturday that he will be the honorary chair of the tournament.
“I look forward to being there and greeting all of these fantastic athletes on both teams!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “See you in Chicago!”
{Matzav.com}
