Pritzker: "The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. "

[tblue37]

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.

This is not a joke. This is not normal.

Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

— Governor JB Pritzker (@govpritzker.illinois.gov) 2025-09-06T16:36:51.982Z

[Bluetus]

1. Pritzker should mobilize the Illinois Guard under his command preemptively

Force Trump to try to take control away from him. I bet he could get a stay from a Federal judge. and the SCOTUS would probably not want to handle that hot potato.

[TomSlick]

21. Mobilizing the entire State's Guard would be an expensive proposition.

[Bluetus]

24. Dems need to be creative. Look for ways to succeed rather than looking for ways to capitulate.

Here's an idea. Pritzker could mobilize just the top 3 or 4 layers of the Guard's chain of command. That might be enough to establish that the Guard is mobilized under the Governor's command. And that. in turn could give friendly courts the basis for blocking any attempt by Trump to take over control.

In other words, with the top officers mobilized, Pritzker could give them orders to not accept any intrusion by the Feds, and force Trump to go to court if he wanted to take over. And in court, he would have to give a showing why this would not violate Posse Comitatus.

I'm not a lawyer, certainly not an expert on this kind of impasse. Maybe it wouldn't work, but it seems to me it is worth trying. If it forced Trump to go to court for a month to try to take control of the Illinois Guard, well, Trump would be off on some other crazy thing by then.

[TomSlick]

25. Interesting idea.

I'd skip the highest levels, they won't be federalized anyway.

He could mobilize more junior officers - say company grade to Lieutenant Colonels. As dumb as Trump and Hegseth are they might federalize the units anyway and send them in without leadership. There would not be much more dangerous than a bunch of bored troops without officers.

[Bluetus]

35. I don't really understand the officer levels

That is to say, I don't understand why the Guard wouldn't be federalized from the top down. But I'll take your word on that. My only point is that there could be a Machiavellian tactic available here, and the Blue Governors should be thinking about these tactics. We need to think like guerilla warfare -- ways to frustrate and slow Trump's moves. We know the guy can't stay focused on anything more than a day or two.

[TomSlick]

42. You've made me reconsider.

Maybe the play would be to mobilize just the State headquarters and send them to a remote facility and cut-off communications. Then there would be no one to process the federalization or deployment orders.

[Bluetus]

44. Cool. That would depend on cooperation from the Guard officers.

But maybe the Governors could impress upon them that there could be consequences for violating Posse Comitatus, and by taking this "special assignment" that takes them out of circulation for a while, that will keep everybody out of trouble.

I'm not sure what the best tactics are here. I'm just saying that there is more than one way to skin a cat (Who ever thought of such a grotesque expression? And no animals were harmed in the preparation of this post.) When dealing with states' rights, there must be some ways to throw sand in Trump's gears, and I hope the Governors are exploring all ideas, even ones like this, which I'll admit is out there.

[Queso Delicioso]

36. There comes a time to spend the money.

After all, there isn't going to be a rainy-er day.

[spanone]

2. Trmp is a SICK MAN.

[ShazzieB]

19. He really is, in more ways than one!

[orleans]

37. that's a big understatement nt

[Cha]

3. TY.. Good on Gov Pritzker... I was

wanting to hear from him.

[leftstreet]

4. Trump isn't even smart enough to be embarrassed

what a complete fucking loser

[GoodRaisin]

5. He's telling the country he is a fucking sadist.

Drunk on his power to inflict pain.

[Sogo]

6. "Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man."

Best f-ing comment ever!

[timms139]

7. And I love the

old pics of fascistic leaders after they were hung .Maybe we can get some modern pics at some point .

[soldierant]

10. Pictures

are hung. People are hanged (unless you mean something else applicable to men only). I grant that is is questionable whether fascists are people, as opposed to monsters..

[timms139]

18. If you

were in my part of the country the word hung instead of hanged you would have got the meaning right off .

[soldierant]

22. Well, yeah,

but who wants pictures of that?

[Stpaoulboy]

8. Impeach

It may be an effort in futility, but protecting the constitution and the American people is what we elect people for.

[Hekate]

14. Orange man has survived impeachment twice. He has reason to believe he is invulnerable...

I should mention that the Sleazy Six on the SCOTUS has given him carte blanche, as well.

[orangecrush]

9. Careful what you wish for, asshole.

[MissouriDem47]

11. TACO's Military History

TACO is a draft dodging coward that refused to serve. Now tries act like he's tough. He is pushing for an event to justify a declaration of Martial Law. There will come a point when his invasion of an American city will be met with resistance.

[Joinfortmill]

12. If Republicans don't impeach this madman they will go the way of the Whigs.

[Amaryllis]

13. Illinois AG on MSNBC right now talking about the invasion.

[canetoad]

15. Having a hard time

Believing my eyes this fine morning. Wake up, check DU and find the US president has declared war on Chicago. Strange days indeed. They are lucky to have Gov. JB.

[ReRe]

16. Ney.

That ain't deportations he smells in the mornings, that's his loaded dirty diaper. There's a high turn over in the nursery staff and they can't find anyone to change it. Malaria is going to have to do it herself!

[gulliver]

17. I still don't think we have the right angle on this

If we look at what happened in DC, we can see Trump's gambit and how it sets him up to run the table in the cities. With DC, we're likely to see a big call for beefing up police and cracking down on disorder when the National Guard departs. A whole lot of people, Dems and otherwise, want cities safe, orderly, and pleasant to live and work in.

Even if Trump ends up unable to get the National Guard into Chicago, he'll still be ahead in the politics if we don't play our hand better. We have to be the ones calling for safe, orderly, and pleasant city life. We have to be the ones calling for more, better, and stricter policing and other law enforcement. We have to be the ones calling for clean, well-lit streets with ample parking and walkability and that give off a vibe of safety, friendliness, and orderliness.

[ShazzieB]

23. I'm not sure what you mean.

Last edited Sat Sep 6, 2025, 11:05 PM - Edit history (1)

With DC, we're likely to see a big call for beefing up police and cracking down on disorder when the National Guard departs.

A large call from whom? The people of DC never asked for his "help," and they never wanted or needed it. Crime was going down there long before Schlump decided to sic the National Guard on that city. I'm pretty sure the residents of DC will heave a huge sigh of relief when the Guard finally leave.

Schlump doesn't really care about crime in the least. He's just obsessed with big, blue cities with lots of black and brown people that he believes were "born to be criminals." He has it in for black and brown people, AND he wants to punish cities that didn't vote for him, especially the ones that have been designated as "sanctuary cities," by making life miserable for the people who live there, especially the black and brown ones. Sending the National Guard in to "clean up" cities like DC and Chicago is just a way for him to accomplish all of the above while also making himself feel like a big hero. Calling for better conditions in cities won't make a shred of difference to him, because that's not what his agenda is.

[Inkey]

34. He is probably projecting again

If he senses that his time is up, he might
need a phalanx to bunker down or protect
his escape route.

[Arazi]

29. You obviously haven't listened to Pritzker, Newsom, Mayor Johnson, Mayor Muriel Bowser

Mayor Wes Moore (Baltimore) etc

Every single one of them have said they would WELCOME enhanced federal law enforcement help like FBI, ATF etc. Every one of them recognizes their cities can always do better on managing crime.

They DO NOT want troops and ICE goons creating provocations and causing mayhem and confrontations.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

20. I posted this on my Facebook Timeline once again.

It's bound to piss off a number of my friends. I do have a number of friends in the Chicago area and they need to be put on alert.

We all need to share this on our various Groups we belong to. Make this go viral!

[Irish_Dem]

26. Does Trump want to start a second Civil War in the US?

[yellow dahlia]

30. Yes!

Oui! (French)

Tak! (Ukrainian)

Si! Si! (Spanish, Italian)

le! (Welsh)

Taip! (Lithuanian)

Po! (Albanian)

Ano! (Czech)

Jo! (Luxembourgish)

Ja! Ja! Ja! Ja! (German, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish)

Absofuckinlutely. (Yellow Dahlia)

[Irish_Dem]

31. Putin wants to break up the US into parts.

Like the old USSR broke up.

Quite a coincidence that Trump helps Putin with all his goals.

[yellow dahlia]

32. All roads lead to Moscow.

[Irish_Dem]

33. Yep. Nancy P was 100% correct.

She knew years ago.

[thought crime]

43. He would love to.

Trump is essentially leading a civil war of the billionaires and their brainless admirers against the rest of us.

[Irish_Dem]

45. Putin and Xi are part of the US civil war too, a big part of it.

[Chemical Bill]

27. This might not get him the Nobel Peace Prize. n/t

[ShazzieB]

28. The pathetically transparent posturing in the Schlump post Pritzker shared is off the charts.

Schlump is desperate to make himself feel powerful and important right now. The big meeting with Putin in Alaska that he THOUGHT was going to get him a Nobel Peace Prize was a colossal failure instead. A couple of days after he slunk back to Washington with his tail between his legs, he had to face Zelensky, along with a phalanx of European leaders who were there to support Z, not Schlump. AND his favorite dictators had a little get together without him not long after. Then there are the terrible approval ratings, the continued furor over the tariffs, the constant clamor for the Epstein files...the list goes on.



More than anything, he wants to be a hero, and he thinks sending the National Guard into American cities under the pretext of "cleaning up" what he claims is rampant crime will make him one -- or at least he hopes it wil.. So far his plans have been backfiring on him in a big way, but he's not known for admitting it when he's beaten, so he'll probably keep making an ass of himself for a while yet, unless he drops dead first. Thank God for governors like Newsom and Pritzker who are willing to stand-up to him and treat him like the bumbling criminal he is.

[Blue Owl]

38. The horror.... The horror....

….that is Donald J. tRump

[Six117]

39. That thing is no American president.

Hell, the US Constitution bars it from holding office.
It is a perversion, a corruption and a travesty.

Release the Epstein files.

[Mblaze]

40. Since Trump is such a big fan of "Alphonse" Capone,

One would think he would have more respect for Chicago.

[twodogsbarking]

41. He does have experience taking over islands, like Epstein's.