In a classic move of big-government opportunism, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) is using President Donald Trump’s tariffs as a convenient excuse to hike taxes on already overburdened residents. Rather than tightening the city’s bloated budget or cutting wasteful spending, Johnson is pointing to international trade tensions to justify squeezing more money out of working families and small businesses.
During an interview with WVON on Thursday, Johnson claimed that “the fluctuations of the market and Trump’s tariffs” have led to significant financial setbacks for the city, “just because of the uncertainty and the chaos.” The Democrat mayor also proposed a financial transaction tax and showed interest in a corporate head tax. He claimed these measures would shift the burden onto the people Trump aims to protect.
“[T]hat is something that I do support, a progressive income tax, a financial transaction tax, there’s a corporate head tax, there [are] a lot of things that we can do that [place] the burden on the very people that Donald Trump is trying to protect,” he added.
In addition, he claimed the city's budget problems stem primarily from pension costs, market fluctuations, and Trump's tariffs, which he says have cost the city’s fund about a billion dollars due to “uncertainty and chaos.” He warned that Chicago would “have to do more with less,” blaming Trump’s policies for the city’s spiraling economic woes, despite having long soaring pension costs, worsening personnel costs, and a massive debt.
According to the city's latest August forecast, Chicago is projected to face a budget deficit of nearly $1.2 billion in 2026. If the economy is down, that gap could balloon to $1.6 billion. In a best-case scenario with strong economic growth, the shortfall might drop to $634 million. The city’s financial outlook is expected to deteriorate further in 2027, with a projected deficit of $1.3 billion. Should the economy take a significant hit, that shortfall could surge to $1.93 billion.
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