Los Angeles: conquered. Washington DC: humiliated. Chicago: buckle up. Donald Trump is currently engaged in military action against the American people, focusing his attacks on Democratic urban strongholds to project fear under the “excuse” of fighting crime.
The above paragraph would ordinarily feel like something out of some unlikely dystopian thriller, but, sadly, this is the reality we’re living in just eight months into Trump’s second term. Trump had previously hinted that Chicago and New York were his next targets for military intervention, saying in the Oval Office on Friday: “I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
Now an official at the Pentagon has confirmed that Trump’s next target will indeed be Chicago, stating that plans are currently being drafted to deploy troops into the city en masse. The Pentagon refused to be drawn on specifics, saying:
“We won’t speculate on further operations. The Department is a planning organization and is continuously… working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”
Prominent Democrats who, let’s face it, are doing an absolutely terrible job of opposing Trump, are horrified. Yesterday, Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader and New York Democratic congressman, said Trump had “manufactured a crisis”, accused him of “playing games with the lives of Americans”, and said: “There’s no basis, no authority for Donald Trump to potentially try to drop federal troops into the city of Chicago.”
Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, echoed that, calling this “the most flagrant violation of our constitution in the 21st century”.
WOW! Mayor Brandon sends a warning to President Trump over his threats against Chicago:
— Ron Smith (@Ronxyz00) August 24, 2025
"We're not gonna surrender our humanity to this tyrant. The city of Chicago has a long history of standing up against tyranny– resisting those who wishes to undermine the interest of working… pic.twitter.com/AdQFCXBebV
What’s next?
So, where do we go from here? Chicago (or any other city for that matter) actively resisting the arrival of Trump’s troops would kick off the craziest constitutional crisis in decades – perhaps centuries. For the first time since the Civil War, we may see Americans staring down at their countrymen down the barrel of a gun as part of an officially backed armed force.
If that happens, we’re one itchy trigger finger away from open armed conflict. And, perhaps, that’s exactly the situation Trump and his cronies are trying to engineer. Keep trampling over citizens’ rights until there’s actual resistance, then use that as the reasoning for a real crackdown on liberty and opposition.
You might think that sounds crazy, but look at the situation we’re currently in. Trump is, unambiguously, literally, right now, attacking Americans in their own cities. Wherever we end up from this point, we’re currently in uncharted territory.
