Trump on Chicago: ‘We’re going in’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated his administration was “going in” and would deploy the National Guard to Chicago — but did not specify when.

“Chicago’s very interesting, because I watched them say ‘We don’t need help, we’re safe,’ but two weeks ago, they had six people murdered and they had 24 people hit by bullets,” he said. “Chicago is a hellhole right now.”

Trump has for weeks indicated he was considering Chicago as a future location for his crackdown on crime. His definitive indication Tuesday he would deploy the National Guard is an escalation of past statements.

“We're going in. I didn't say when. We're going in,” he said.

Trump’s Tuesday comments on the city come as he touts decreasing crime numbers in D.C. amid his federal takeover of the police and deployment of the National Guard. He called the capital city a “template” for others in the country.

The president praised D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for her willingness to work with him, and urged Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to do the same.

“If the governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it, now, we’re going to do it anyway,” Trump said. “We have the right to do it, because I have an obligation to protect this country.”

Pritzker said at a press conference Tuesday that he would not call Trump back and called the president’s remarks “unhinged.” He said Trump’s “absurd characterizations do not match what is happening on the ground.”

“He has no idea what he's talking about. There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops,” Pritzker said. “He is insulting the people of Chicago by calling our home a hellhole, and anyone who takes his word at face value is insulting Chicago too.”

Pritzker, and other Democratic governors, urged the Trump administration in a Thursday letter not to send troops into their cities.

“Whether it’s Illinois, Maryland and New York or another state tomorrow, the President’s threats and efforts to deploy a state’s National Guard without the request and consent of that state’s governor is an alarming abuse of power, ineffective, and undermines the mission of our service members,” they said in the letter, organized by the Democratic Governors Association.