Amid the ongoing legal battle over President Donald Trump’s decision to send National Guard members into Los Angeles without a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked about the possibility of the president making a similar action in the Land of Lincoln.
That order, undertaken amid demonstrations and protests against the administration’s immigration enforcement actions in the city, has sparked a heated legal battle over whether Trump had the authority to do so, but it also led to questions about whether the president would make similar orders in other large cities.
Stream NBC 5 for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HEREImmigration protests have remained largely peaceful in Chicago, with just one arrest reported during a “No Kings” march on Saturday, but Pritzker was asked whether he believed Trump would activate the Illinois National Guard to support law enforcement in Chicago.
“I do not believe he will call out the National Guard. He has seen this has not gone well for him politically, and he’s all about the politics,” Pritzker said during a press conference Monday. “What he’s done in California has really hurt him politically, so I don’t think he’ll do that in other places.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed an amicus brief supporting California’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over the order, and though he described the president’s order as “unusual,” Pritzker said that the process needs to play out in courts to determine the president’s power in such cases.
“Calling out the National Guard on U.S. soil against U.S. citizens and residents is very unusual,” he said. “It is really supposed to be reserved for a true rebellion or insurrection. I understand that the president of the United States often breaches the Constitution and doesn’t follow the law. The fact is that we have to rely upon the courts to rule on what’s best.”
After Newsom’s administration filed the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled the deployment violated the Tenth Amendment, which pertains to the separation of federal and state powers, and exceeded Trump’s legal authority under Title 32 of U.S. Code. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later blocked that ruling, with a fresh hearing on the matter set for Tuesday.
In filing the suit, Newsom blasted the Trump administration for creating a “manufactured crisis” in summoning the National Guard and U.S. Marines.
“This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic. Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” he said in a statement.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the news you need to know with the Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
SIGN UP Trump defended the actions, saying that Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass should be thanking him.
“If I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now,” Trump said on his Truth Social account Friday after a court stayed the order to remove National Guard members from Los Angeles.
Raoul was one of 21 state attorneys general that filed an amicus brief supporting California in the case.
“President Trump’s ability to federalize California’s National Guard is only authorized in the event of rebellion, foreign invasion, or if regular forces are inadequate to respond to a crisis. His actions are unprecedented, unlawful and lack the governor’s consent,” he said. “All states have an interest in standing with California against the Trump administration’s march toward authoritarianism.”
