Trump says Johnson, Pritzker 'should be in jail' for not protecting ICE

Reaction after Trump calls for Pritzker, Johnson to be jailed

The battle of the words between local leaders and President Trump is getting intense.

CHICAGO - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker "should be in jail" for not protecting ICE agents.

What they're saying:

Trump made the comments around 7:20 a.m. on his TruthSocial account.

"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!" the post read.

Trump says Johnson, Pritzker 'should be in jail' for not protecting ICE

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker ?should be in jail" for not protecting ICE agents.

Pritzker and Johnson both went after Trump in replies on X.

"I will not back down," Pritzker's post read. "Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"

"This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere," Johnson posted.

The remarks comes a day after National Guard troops from Texas arrived at an Army training center in Elwood, Illinois, 55 miles southwest of Chicago.

Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that Trump's authorization to deploy troops to the Windy City is "unlawful and dangerous."

Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns." Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters that the administration isn't sharing much information with the city.

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"That is what is so difficult about this moment: You have an administration that is refusing to cooperate with a local authority," Johnson said Tuesday.

Johnson signed an executive order Monday barring federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property, such as parking lots, garages and vacant lots, as staging areas for enforcement operations.

ICE protests have been going on for weeks in Chicago and the surrounding area with several demonstrations at the ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview. Federal immigration agents have used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who allege mistreatment of detainees held at the center. In the past month, at least a dozen people have been arrested in the protests outside the facility.