Trump slams Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: ‘Probably the worst in the country’
KANANASKIS, Alberta - President Donald Trump blasted both Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday, calling the former "probably the worst in the country."
Trump made the comments while appearing with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose country is hosting the G7 Summit, a meeting of seven world leaders this week.
‘You got a really bad governor’
What they're saying:
A reporter asked Trump about his post on Truth Social on Sunday, in which the president said federal immigration enforcement should be expanded to the country’s largest cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
"I want them to focus on the cities, because the cities are where you really have what's called sanctuary cities, and that's where the people are," Trump said. "I look at New York, I look in Chicago. I mean, you got a really bad governor in Chicago, and a bad mayor. But the governor is probably the worst in the country, Pritzker. But I look at how that city has been overrun by criminals."
Trump has repeatedly bashed so-called "sanctuary cities," or municipalities, like Chicago, that have passed laws limiting local police departments' participation in federal immigration enforcement. Migrants in the country illegally have been the target of ICE operations in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs during Trump’s second term.
Such operations have prompted warnings from local officials and large protests at sites where ICE agents were seen and across the city in recent weeks.
Pritzker said on Monday while he expects to see more ICE agents coming to Chicago, he didn’t know specifics about how large of an operation the city will see.
He also said Trump’s targeting of undocumented immigrants who haven’t committed violent crimes and who have lived in the country for many years is "ill-conceived."
"We ought to go after the violent criminals, people who get convicted of violent crimes, who are undocumented, should be thrown out of this country," Pritzker said at a news conference. "They should be taken out of Illinois, and they should be thrown out of the country. That is not what they’re doing."
Pritzker's rising profile
Big picture view:
Trump’s dig at Pritzker specifically might also be emblematic of the billionaire governor’s rising profile in the Democratic Party and his positioning as a foil to the president during his second term.
Political observers routinely list Pritzker as one of the potential front-runners to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2028. Pritzker has traveled the country in recent months, including to the key primary state of New Hampshire, to give speeches and even appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show.
Just last week, Pritzker appeared before the House Oversight Committee and fielded questions from Republican members about the state’s sanctuary immigration laws in front of a national audience.