President Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal forces are prepared to intervene in Chicago, despite local Democrat leaders rejecting help, using remarks at the White House's annual turkey pardon ceremony to level sharp criticism at Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker.
"We're ready to go," Trump said in a speech that aired live on Newsmax and the free online streaming platform Newsmax2, accusing Johnson of incompetence and urging Pritzker to "invite us in" to help address violence in the city.
He said federal teams had already been "moving toward Chicago," but the administration is waiting for the state to halt its obstruction.
"They burned the woman; they burned this beautiful woman," Trump said, referring to Bethany MaGee, 26, the victim of a shocking Nov. 17 attack aboard a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train in which she was doused in gasoline and set on fire by 50-year-old Lawrence Reed.
During a wide-ranging and often joking speech in the Rose Garden, Trump pivoted to crime, saying his administration had made Washington, D.C., "totally safe" and suggesting similar results could be achieved in Chicago "in four to eight weeks" if federal forces were allowed in.
Trump pointed to recent crimes in the city as evidence that "it's out of control" and said the federal government could replicate what he described as rapid improvements in D.C. and Memphis.
Local officials have not commented on any request for federal intervention, and crime data for several U.S. cities varies by category.
The comments came as Trump presided over the annual Thanksgiving pardon of two turkeys, Gobble and Waddle, before shifting back to holiday themes, economic claims, and attacks on his most vocal obstructionist Democrats like Pritzker.
Trump joked he would not say "the governor is a big fat slob" before admitting he stands to lose some pounds himself.
"On a more serious note, as we gather around the dinner table — I'd like to lose a few pounds too, by the way, and I'm not going to lose it on Thanksgiving, I can tell you that, because I'm going to have a turkey," Trump said, doing his patented "weave" between jokes and issues.
"But it's not going to be that one," he continued, pointing to the pardoned turkeys.
"I hope all Americans will have the chance to enjoy the fellowship of family and friends and renew our faith in God's providence."
Newsmax writer Eric Mack contributed to this report.
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