Trump threatens 'Apocalypse Now'-style action against Chicago to boost deportations

Updated September 6, 2025 at 8:56 PM EDT

President Trump threatened the city of Chicago on Saturday with the deportation of suspected undocumented immigrants, as Illinois' most populous city — along with Baltimore and New Orleans — prepared for the potential arrival of National Guard troops.

"'I love the smell of deportations in the morning...'" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, alongside a doctored photo of himself depicted as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore from the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now.

"Chicago [is] about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR," the post continued.

Trump on Friday signed an executive order indicating he will refer to the Defense Department as the Department of War. He stated that the new title "just sounded to me better" — though he lacks legal authority to change the department's official name without congressional action.

Trump had mentioned the three cities — Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans — this week as possible places for troop deployment in order to curb crime, though data shows that violent crime has trended down in those cities over the last few years. It comes after the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles in June and Washington, D.C. in August.

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In Chicago, organizers of a Mexican Independence celebration this weekend told NPR they planned to bolster their event with a large team of volunteers and distribute "know your rights" cards.

"We won't let anyone rain on our parade," said Vicky Lugo, the lead organizer for the event in the city's lower west side.

Quoting the president's message, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said his city would not be cowed by threats of military deployment.

"The President's threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution," Johnson said in a statement on X.

"We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump," he said.

Marchers filled the streets of downtown Chicago for blocks Saturday night, passing by Trump Tower, and chanting things like "No hate, no fear. Immigrants are welcome here."

Kevin Ryan, a U.S. Marine, carried a sign that read "Veterans demand no troops on our street."

"It's violation of federal law and it's unconstitutional and it's dangerous," he told NPR. "The military is not trained to police."

Similar scenes played out in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, where thousands of protesters marched in the "We Are All D.C." protest. They were condemning federal troops and the deployment of the National Guard in the nation's capital and other cities.

DC Metropolitan Police told NPR Saturday evening that it was not aware of any arrests during the protest.

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Chicago celebrations ongoing

Major events will continue this weekend as scheduled in Chicago, including Taste of Chicago, Printers Row Lit Festival and Sundays on State, but organizers say they'll be monitoring the situation closely, member station WBEZ reported.

At least one celebration for Mexican Independence Day, which is on Sept. 16, has been postponed to November because of worries about immigration raids and National Guard deployment, according to Fox 32 Chicago.

Lugo said her group chose to move forward with their Mexican Independence Day parade this weekend because of the groundswell of support and influx of volunteers they received.

"Honestly, it's the support of the community that we have gotten that has kept us going," she said.

In the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, the Saturday parade began in the early afternoon, but attendees said the normally jam-packed annual event was far sparser in attendance this year — which they attributed to people's concerns over immigration crackdowns.

"I have a mixed [immigration status] family, and for them to not be able to go out, all this week they've been relying on me for stuff," said Andrea Soria, a Chicago native who brought her daughter to the parade.

Soria had never been to the parade before, but she heard about immigrant outreach efforts on TikTok and teamed up with an organization that provided whistles and a code for people to use in case they were approached by immigration officers.

"It's emotionally draining, but you know it's not just me or my family, it's a lot of families. Around my neighborhood, there's a lot of people that, unfortunately, are not legal here," Soria said through tears.

Citing Trump's social media post on Saturday morning that referenced the famous Apocalypse Now quote, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said the president's behavior was extreme.

"The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city," Pritzker wrote on X. "This is not a joke. This is not normal."

Earlier this week, Pritzker said he expects Trump to deploy "unidentified agents in unmarked vehicles" to Latino neighborhoods in Chicago, along with federal agents at federal properties throughout the city.

"We are ready to fight troop deployments in court and we will do everything possible to ensure that agents operating inside the confines of this state do so in a legal and ethical manner," he said.

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Baltimore

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, both Democrats, have been discussing what kinds of legal action they can take against the Trump administration if troops are deployed in the city, member station WYPR reported.

At a press conference on Friday night, Moore said he welcomes federal support but "we want federal supports that actually work." He went on to criticize the Trump administration for slashing funds for violence prevention programs.

On Friday, Moore and Scott also announced that the city of Baltimore will receive additional state law enforcement resources to tackle crime, including from the Maryland State Police and Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

New Orleans

Unlike the Democratic governors in Illinois and Maryland, the Republican governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, has supported the prospect of troops coming to the city of New Orleans.

Earlier this week, Landry wrote on X "We will take President @realDonaldTrump's help from New Orleans to Shreveport!"

Landry was also among the handful of Republican governors to send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to support Trump's crime crackdown.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, New Orleans' Democratic Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office and the New Orleans Police Department did not comment on whether they support or oppose the use of troops, but emphasized that their current approach has shown progress in reducing crime.

"The City of New Orleans and NOPD remain committed to sustaining this momentum, ensuring that every neighborhood continues to feel the impact of these combined efforts," the statement read.

NPR's Chandelis Duster contributed to this report.

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