Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt roasted J.B. Pritzker’s over crime-ridden Chicago during a news conference.
Independent reporter Brandon Tatum asked Leavitt what Trump’s administration will do to stop violent crime in Chicago.
“Anybody with a connected brain stem knows that Chicago’s crime is out of control, and young black men are getting killed, laying dead in the middle of the streets every single day in Chicago," Tatum asked.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s administration wants to make American cities safe again.
“We’ve been seeing the governor of Illinois parading out there saying ‘there’s nothing wrong with Chicago. It’s a great place to live. There’s no crime there," Leavitt said. "He doesn’t need President Trump’s help.’”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Aug. 28, 2025 https://t.co/UMvmYRlEqQ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 28, 2025
Leavitt might have been referencing an Aug 25 post on social media.
I am sounding the alarm on the real crisis we face today.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) August 25, 2025
Donald Trump’s overreach is what our founders warned against – it is unprecedented, unwarranted, and un-American.
There’s no emergency here that calls for military intervention. pic.twitter.com/qokhDNGMKX
Leavitt said that Chicago residents disagree and started listing Chicago crime statistics.
For 13 consecutive years, Chicago has had the most murders of any US city. This is JB Pritzker’s legacy.
For seven consecutive years, Chicago has had the highest murder rate among US cities with more than 1 million people in 2024.
Just last year, Chicago’s murder rate per capita was three times higher than Los Angeles and nearly five times higher than New York City. That’s more than double the murder rate in Islamabad and nearly 15 times more than Delhi.
Out of Chicago’s 147,899 reported crimes this tear, there have only been arrests in 16% of them.
There have been more illegal guns recovered in Chicago than in New York City and Los Angeles combined
The number of reported motor vehicle thefts last year was more than double the number in 2021.
And Chicago has also, just like D.C., come under scrutiny for over discrepancies in its homicide reporing.
“He should put politics aside” and call Trump, Leavitt said.
Later in the news conference, a reporter asked how Trump’s administration could get more police officers to work in cities.
Leavitt pointed to the Trump administration's success filling positions at the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
“Clearly, Americans want to serve their communities, they just need a leader who encourages them to do so. Maybe Gov. Pritzker should spend less time demonizing the police, more time trying to recruit more police, and more time trying to call the President of The United States to get crime in his city under control. The President wants to allow law enforcement, whether it’s state, local, federal, to do their jobs, to arrest criminals, to put them behind bars, and to remove public safety threats from American communities, and he’ll continue to do that.”
The news conference follows Trump calling soldiers to stop violent crime in Washington D.C.