WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday will make his first visit to the city since becoming president and will speak to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Chicago Sun-Times has confirmed.
Trump, for years a critic of Chicago’s handling of crime, slammed the city in a speech to the police chiefs group at its annual conference last year in Orlando.
A White House official told the Sun-Times that the group is “the largest annual gathering of law enforcement leaders in the world” and “the IACP was the first law enforcement association to endorse the President’s First Step Act, which prepares inmates to successfully rejoin society and enacts commonsense sentencing reforms to make our justice system fairer for all Americans. President Trump is expected to discuss his strong record on law enforcement, the historic First Step Act legislation, and economic actions taken to reduce crime and recidivism, including Opportunity Zones.”
The Sun-Times reported earlier this month that Trump was likely to speak to the police chiefs organization.
Trump has been focusing on Chicago crime since his 2016 presidential campaign, accusing city leaders of thwarting police. Pushing back, Chicago officials have declared Chicago a sanctuary city in the wake of Trump’s immigration crackdowns and have fought other policy directives from the Trump White House, including an attempt to deny law enforcement grants.
Trump hits the city for another purpose, a fundraising lunch co-hosted by Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts, chairman of the combined fundraising efforts for the Trump 2020 campaign and the Republican National Committee. The lunch is likely will be at the Trump International Hotel & Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave. The top tab for that event is $100,000, according to an invitation obtained by the Sun-Times.
