Politics
‘In No Way Are We Going to Accept This’: Johnson Vows to Resist Trump’s National Guard Deployment
Video: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 6, 2025. (Produced by Shelby Hawkins)
Mayor Brandon Johnson vowed Monday to resist President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, calling the president’s actions “illegal and dangerous.”
“In no way are we going to accept this,” Johnson said on WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight.”
The first of 400 members of the Texas National Guard and 300 members of the Illinois National Guard under federal control could hit Chicago streets as soon as Tuesday, lawyers for the Trump administration told U.S. District Court Judge April Perry.
Perry declined to immediately block the deployment after Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker sued to stop it, instead scheduling a hearing for Thursday.
Even as Johnson said Trump “has essentially declared war on Chicago,” local officials cannot stop the president from federalizing the Illinois National Guard and deploying them to Chicago alongside the Texas National Guard.
Johnson signed an executive order Monday morning designed to prohibit federal agents from using city property during enforcement actions and to allow private property owners to deny entry to federal agents without a warrant.
Those prohibitions are already in place under state law and city ordinance, and local officials do not have the ability to place additional restrictions on federal agents, making Johnson’s action symbolic.
But Johnson said the city would use the threat of legal action to stop federal agents — who local officials said have committed a litany of egregious offences against Chicagoans — from using school parking lots and parks to prepare enforcement operations.
“What’s happening in this country right now is a threat to our democracy and if the Congress or the Supreme Court, if they’re not going to hold this administration accountable, Chicago will,” Johnson said. “We don’t want a federalized occupation in our city.”
Johnson said Trump is attempting to terrorize Chicagoans by using Department of Homeland Security agents.
“We’re not going to be intimidated in Chicago,” Johnson said. “It’s my responsibility to stand up to tyranny and to make sure that we are defending the people of this city.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
