Chicago Clash: Trump Promises Crackdown, Pritzker Calls Him “Wannabe Dictator”

President Donald Trump has escalated his standoff with Chicago, posting a parody image from the film Apocalypse Now and threatening to send in National Guard troops and immigration agents. The post, which declared “I love the smell of deportations in the morning” over a fiery Chicago skyline, quickly sparked outrage. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker fired back, calling Trump a “wannabe dictator” and warning that the president was threatening “to go to war with an American city.” Trump has already deployed federal forces to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and has floated similar actions in Baltimore, New Orleans, and Portland. Chicago leaders are preparing to challenge the administration in court, saying the city will not be intimidated by Trump’s threats or his executive order to rename the Pentagon as the “Department of War,” a move that still requires congressional approval.