President Donald Trump intensified his dispute with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson after a weekend that left six people dead and 27 wounded in shootings across Chicago. In posts on his social-media platform, the president called Pritzker “incompetent” and said Johnson was “no better,” arguing that local officials are misrepresenting the city’s public-safety record and should ask the White House for help. Trump contrasted Chicago’s situation with Washington, D.C., where he deployed more than 2,200 National Guard troops and federal agents earlier this month. He said the operation has produced “well over 1,000” arrests and cited local figures showing an 87 percent drop in carjackings during the 20-day surge. The president credits the crackdown for demonstrating what he calls a successful federal model for reducing violent crime. Hinting that Chicago could be next, Trump urged residents to “stay tuned,” a signal that he may order a similar federal intervention if state and city leaders decline to request it voluntarily. Pritzker has rejected the idea of what he called an unconstitutional “occupation” of the city, while Johnson has said Chicagoans are not asking for military patrols. Chicago has recorded the highest number of murders of any U.S. city for 13 straight years, with 573 homicides in 2024. City officials counter that homicides are down 33 percent and shootings 38 percent so far this year and that the homicide clearance rate has risen above 77 percent. The White House and Illinois leaders remain at odds over whether boots-on-the-ground federal support or locally led policing reforms offer the better path to making those gains permanent.