Attorney general Pam Bondi signaled a shift in President Trump's crackdown on urban crime, saying federal troops will head next to a "city who wants us there" instead of intervening in resistant Democratic cities.
Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of taking over Chicago, which has long been plagued with gang violence. But Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) have furiously pushed back on Trump's offer of assistance.
The Trump administration is now suggesting they will not waste time fighting with Democrats who refuse to be helped.
"They are a progressive city, and they don't want the president's help. That's on them," Bondi said of Chicago on Fox News Tuesday night. "Chicago should be begging Donald Trump for help to keep Chicago safe — yet they aren't. So we’re going to a city who wants us there."
Bondi did not say which city is next, but Trump has named Democrat-run New Orleans as another city that could use federal help with fighting crime.
Louisiana is a Republican-run state, and Trump has already said the governor, Jeff Landry, is receptive to Trump's crackdown.
According to Bondi, the feds have arrested over 2,310 people and seized over 225 guns in Washington, D.C. since Trump launched his takeover of the capital in August.
The city's police data shows that homicides have fallen 43% since the crackdown started, with violent crime dropping 18%.
The president touted his D.C. operation as a success during a rare stop at a restaurant in downtown D.C., where he teased a major announcement.
“We’re going to be announcing another city that we're going to very shortly. We’re working it out with the governor of a certain state that would love us to be there and the mayor of a certain city in the same state,” he said on Tuesday.
“We’ll announce it probably tomorrow," he added.
The takeover of D.C. expired Wednesday after Congress declined to renew it, but National Guard troops are expected to remain in the city for now.
While Bondi is pointing to a more limited federal presence in Chicago, immigration agents have started a new crackdown in the city in honor of a 20-year-old woman who was killed by an illegal alien in a hit-and-run accident.
Since beginning Operation Midway Blitz, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested several criminal foreigners, including for offenses as sexually assaulting a child family member, rape, armed robbery, and domestic battery.
