ISTANBUL

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democratic leaders criticized US President Donald Trump’s decision to target Chicago in a federal crackdown on crime.

“The guard is not needed,” Johnson told NBC News on Sunday. “This is not the role of our military. The brave men and women who signed up to serve our country did not sign up to occupy American cities.”

Johnson highlighted a decline in murders, shootings, and vehicle thefts in the city, attributing the improvement to increased investments in youth employment, mental health care, affordable housing, and police resources.

“Occupying our cities with the military — that’s not how we build safe and affordable communities,” he said.

Johnson also criticized Trump for slashing federal funding for violence prevention, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Medicaid, questioning how such actions align with efforts to reduce violence in big cities.

“The National Guard is not going to put food on people’s table. The National Guard is not going to reduce unemployment,” he said.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Trump of attempting to "manufacture a crisis and create a distraction" with his threats to intervene in Chicago without state approval.

“We should continue to support local law enforcement and not simply allow Donald Trump to play games with the lives of the American people,” Jeffries told CNN on Sunday.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also rejected the move, saying there is "no emergency" that warrants Trump “federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders."

Jeffries stressed that there is no “basis, authority for Donald Trump to potentially try to drop federal troops into the city of Chicago.”

Trump said Friday his administration will target Chicago and New York in a federal crackdown on crime, after he declared a "crime emergency" in Washington, DC, placing the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploying nearly 2,000 National Guard troops to patrol streets.