President Donald Trump posted a meme on social media Saturday stating that Chicago “will find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” as city officials prepare for an immigration crackdown.
“I enjoy the smell of deportations in the morning…” The post reads: “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” Trump issued an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War.”
The post includes what appears to be an artificially generated image of the president wearing a hat and sunglasses, with the Chicago skyline in the background, and text reading “Chipocalypse Now.”
On Saturday, Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker referred to Trump’s post as “not normal.”
“The president of the United States has threatened to go to war with an American city. This is no joke. “This is not normal,” Pritzker wrote on X. “Donald Trump is not a strongman; he is a scared man. Illinois will not be intimidated by a potential dictator.
It comes as Trump has escalated his rhetoric against the nation’s third most populous city. CNN previously reported the Trump administration’s plans to launch a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, with officials expecting it to begin as early as Friday.
Personnel from Immigration and Border Protection and Customs and Border Protection have recently begun to arrive in the city, according to White House officials.
The Trump administration has also reserved the right to deploy the National Guard if the reaction to the operation warrants it, according to officials. The Chicago operation is modeled after a similar operation carried out in Los Angeles in June. A judge ruled this week that the June deployment violated federal law, which prohibits the military from conducting law enforcement activities on US soil in most cases; the Trump administration has appealed.
White House officials have clarified that the Chicago immigration crackdown is distinct from the president’s proposal to use federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to carry out a larger crime crackdown in the city, similar to the operation in Washington, DC.
When asked by a reporter Tuesday about sending National Guard troops into the city, Trump said, “We’re going,” but did not specify when. “We are going in.”
Democratic officials from Chicago and Illinois condemned Trump’s post on Saturday.
“The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our country, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and violate the Constitution,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote on social media. “We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth called Trump’s post on X “stolen valor at its worst,” adding, “Take off that Cavalry hat, you draft dodger. “You did not earn the right to wear it.”
Rep. Mike Quigley, who represents a portion of Chicago, said Saturday afternoon on CNN that the post is an example of Trump “edging more and more toward authoritarianism.”
“It’s a scary time. “For those who haven’t been paying attention, it’s time to look at what this president is doing,” Quigley said.
