By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump has promised to send federal crime-fighting help to Chicago, but Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he wants federal dollars instead.

The president answered questions from reporters Tuesday and cited Chicago crime numbers, which included more than 50 people getting shot over the Labor Day weekend. Trump promised to send federal troops to make the city safer.

“Well, we’re going in. I didn’t say when, but we’re going in. Look, I have an obligation. This isn’t a political thing,” Trump said.

Trump discussed Washington, D.C.’s improved public-safety numbers and said the nation’s capital “is now a safe zone” since he deployed federal troops to the city last month.

“Chicago is a hellhole right now,” Trump offered.

Trump said Illinois has a “terrible governor,” but he also said he would be happy to hear from Pritzker.

“I would love the governor of Illinois, I’d be honored to take his call. All he has to do is say, ‘Sir, we need help. It’s out of control,’ and everyone knows it is. He’s not kidding anyone,” Trump said.

Pritzker held a press conference after Trump was finished and said the president’s remarks were “unhinged.”

“No, I will not call the president, asking him to send troops to Chicago. I’ve made that clear already,” Pritzker said.

The governor noted that the Illinois National Guard was deployed in Chicago last year for the Democratic National Convention.

Pritzker was joined by Lieutenant Gov. Juliana Stratton, Illinois Attorney Kwame Raoul, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The governor suggested that the president should send money instead of troops.

“What I want are the federal dollars that have been promised to Illinois and Chicago for violence prevention programs that have been proven to work,” Pritzker said. “That is money that Illinois taxpayers send to the federal government, and it’s an insult to any and every citizen to suggest that any governor should have to beg the president of any political party to resources owed their people.”

The governor said the president was insulting the people of Chicago by calling their home, “a hellhole.”

The White House released a statement Tuesday afternoon, advising Chicagoans and residents in Democrat-run cities, “You don’t have to live like this.”

On Saturday, Johnson signed an executive order which demanded that the president stand down from his threat to deploy National Guard personnel to Chicago.

Before and after signing the order, Johnson offered more criticism of Trump.

“He is the biggest threat to our democracy that we’ve experienced in the history of our country,” Johnson said.

When asked how effective he thought his executive order would be, the mayor responded by saying he did not take orders from the federal government.

Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez offered his thoughts in an X post Tuesday morning.

“If @POTUS is paying, let National Guard come here. Not in our communities, but protecting assets & high priority targets downtown so that our @Chicago_Police don’t have to babysit the Bean or Buckingham Fountain for eight hours a day. Our officers can return to their districts & answer the thousands of 911 calls logged but never answered,” Lopez posted.

State Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, said Tuesday that Johnson, Pritzker and Illinois Democrats have created a pro-criminal environment.

“They have abandoned the victims, abandoned the police and abandoned the people of Chicago and many of the people in our districts as well,” Chesney said Tuesday during a virtual press conference hosted by the Illinois Freedom Caucus.