Why Gov. Pritzker says Trump's threats to Chicago make him worry about 2026 elections

For weeks President Trump has threatened to send National Guard troops to Chicago. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says Trump's repeated threats to send troops are a power grab while the President says it's an effort to fight crime.

Pritzker alleges that Trump wants to set a pattern of military intervention before the 2026 Congressional elections.

Trump appears to lack the legal authority, at this point, to deploy troops to Chicago without Pritzker's request. But the Department of Homeland Security made a different move on Monday, announcing "Operation Midway Blitz," an operation to round up people without legal status.

On Tuesday, Pritzker spoke with NPR following a tour of the National Museum of Mexican Art, a Chicago institution connected with the city's substantial Latino population, which totals some 800,000 people in a city of 2.7 million. In an office decorated with Mexican drawings, sculptures, paintings and skulls, Pritzker spoke out against the Trump administration and addressed his party's political future during a NPR video interview.

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/10/nx-s1-5533120/pritzker-trump-chicago-troops