Trump takes aim at Chicago crime, no-cash bail while singling out
Pritzker
[August 12, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump says Illinois Gov. J.B.
Pritzker is incompetent, that he may send the national guard into
Chicago and will work to reverse the end of cash bail.
In announcing federal law enforcement actions in Washington D.C. Monday,
Trump said he may send the National Guard to keep the peace in places
with heavy crime.
“And if we need to, we're going to do the same thing in Chicago, which
is a disaster,” Trump said. “We have a mayor there who's totally
incompetent. He's an incompetent man. And we have an incompetent
governor. That Pritzker's an incompetent. His family threw him out of
the business, and he ran for governor.”
Trump even went as far to add to speculation that Pritzker is running
for president in 2028.
“And now I understand he wants to be president, but I noticed he lost a
little weight, so maybe he has a chance,” Trump said. “You know, you
never know what happens. But Pritzker is a gross, incompetent guy,
thrown out of the family business.”
Later in the day Monday, Pritzker said Trump has no right or legal
ability to send troops into the city of Chicago.
“As to everything else that he had to say this morning, I guess I should
say thank you for the compliment," Pritzker said at an unrelated event.
Pritzker said Trump is a cheater, a convicted felon and has declared
bankruptcy several times. As to his political future, Pritzker said the
only decisions he’s made is to run for a third term as governor.
Trump also said he’s got more he is taking aim at across the country
concerning public safety, including ending no-cash bail.
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Separately Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, President Donald Trump and
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
White House | YouTube, BlueRoomStream
“That's what started it in Chicago. I mean, bad politicians started
and bad leadership started it. But that was the one thing that's
central. No cash bail,” Trump said. “Somebody murders somebody and
they're out on no cash bail before the day is out. We're going to
end that in Chicago. We're going to change the statute.”
Illinois ended cash bail statewide in 2023, being the first state to
do so.
The Network for Pretrial Justice said in a statement Monday that
Trump’s policies hurt poor people and people of color, and that
dangerous people are not flooding the streets. They argue violent
crime has decreased since the start of no-cash bail.
“Illinois is showing the country a way out of the policies of mass
incarceration that have failed to keep our communities safe,” the
group said in a statement. “We will not be bullied by a president
who is more concerned with his public image than he is public
safety. The Pretrial Fairness Act is working, and Illinois is safer
because of it.”
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