After President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested cities like Chicago should be used as “training grounds for our military,” Gov. JB Pritzker said the 25th Amendment should be invoked to remove the president from office, saying “there is something genuinely wrong with this man.”
“It appears that Donald Trump not only has dementia set in, but he’s copying tactics of Vladimir Putin. Sending troops into cities, thinking that that’s some sort of proving ground for war, or that indeed there’s some sort of internal war going on in the United States is just, frankly, inane and I’m concerned for his health,” Pritzker said Tuesday afternoon. “There is something genuinely wrong with this man, and the 25th Amendment ought to be invoked.”
In a statement Tuesday evening, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson didn’t directly address Pritzker’s call to invoke the 25th Amendment.
“President Trump is deeply concerned with the safety and security of all Americans, including those in Chicago – and he’s stepping in where J.B. failed,” she said.
While it’s not the first time Pritzker has said he believes the president suffers from dementia, it’s the first time he has publicly called for his removal from office.
The governor’s comments came hours after the president told senior military leaders that he has told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that cities like Chicago should serve as “training grounds” for troops.
“I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but military. Because we’re going into Chicago very soon. That’s a big city with an incompetent governor,” Mr. Trump said.
Pritzker on Monday said he had received a report that the Trump administration is seeking to deploy 100 military troops in Illinois to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and facilities amid the ongoing federal crackdown on illegal immigration.
In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, “The Department of War has received a request for assistance to safeguard Federal personnel, property, and functions in the state of Illinois. Any decisions will be made in accordance with established processes and announced at the appropriate time.”
Insiders said the likeliest callup is the Illinois National Guard and that troops could be on the ground.
“I think the president is going to go and activate the National Guard if it was my guess,” said Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Richard Hayes, the former adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard.
If Hayes is correct, the Trump administration’s move to deploy the Illinois National Guard would require Pritzker – who vehemently opposes deploying troops in Illinois – to pass along the orders from the Pentagon to Illinois National Guard leadership if and when it comes down, as he sits atop the Illinois National Guard’s chain of command.
“The governor cannot refuse to pass that order to the adjutant general or stop the process himself unless he deems it completely illegal, and that’s going to be a pretty broad swath, but what he can do – all the governors can – they can contest the deployment once the orders are sent. They can contest the deployment in court, and that’s what you saw play out in California,” Hayes said.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in California ruled the president’s deployment of troops in Los Angeles over the summer violated the law.
Hayes said he expects Pritzker would almost immediately begin legal proceedings to stop any federal deployment of troops in Illinois.
“I’m sure his attorney general’s office is ready to do something, because he’s so adamant against it,” Hays said.
Pritzker has signaled legal papers are at the ready.
“What we can do when it comes to troops being sent in to Chicago and to the state of Illinois is to immediately go to court. We’re prepared to do that,” Pritzker said. “Believe me when I tell you that the law is on our side when it comes to keeping troops out of the city and out of the state.”
Illinois Republicans said Pritzker is part of the problem.
“We have seen these tensions rise here at home, driven at times by our very own governor, who just yesterday called agents ‘jackbooted thugs,'” Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie said. “He went further, urging Illinoisans to fight with everything we have, and to ask for badge numbers and record everything. And to what end? These remarks have only deepened tensions between federal agents who are doing their jobs and their local communities.”
The deployment of 100 troops is not considered “large” in National Guard circles, and that number of troops could be mobilized quickly.
“Usually, 48 to 96 hours for a full standup,” Hayes said. “We can get some initial capabilities out right away. That’s not a problem, because we have some people on active duty every day, but to get the whole contingent it would probably take about 96 hours to get them where they need to go.”
That would mean those troops could be in place by next week if the Trump administration moves quickly on a deployment.
Sources said what’s happening now behind the scenes is an evaluation of what military outfit is best suited to help protect ICE agents and facilities, whether that be the Illinois National Guard or another wing of the military entirely.
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