Federal law enforcement officers may be a step closer to moving into Chicago, after President Trump suggested the city will be next in an operation that's already been seen in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
The President used a World Cup-themed photo op at the White House Friday afternoon to claim that Washington is safe again after federal authorities moved in ... even though the capitol city's mayor says crime had already been trending down for years.
And then, the President said Chicago would probably be next in line, calling Mayor Johnson incompetent.
"The people of Chicago ... are screaming for us to come. They're wearing red hats, just like this one," the President said, pointing to the red baseball-styled cap emblazoned with the words "Trump Was Right All Along."
"African-American ladies ... beautiful ladies ... are saying 'Please, President Trump, come to Chicago ... please.'"
Mayor Johnson's office has responded to similar comments from the President in the past by pointing to reductions in violent crime in the city over the last two years. The mayor repeated those talking points last Wednesday during an appearance at Lincoln Park Zoo.
"Thirty percent reduction in homicides ... almost a 40% reduction in shootings and shooting victims ... Everybody appreciates that!" said the mayor.
Earlier in the day, Governor Pritzker told reporters at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that he was not afraid of potential intervention from the federal government.
"They don't have the right to do the things they're threatening to do," the governor said after a bill-signing ceremony. "That hasn't stopped them sometimes, I hate to say."
Democratic leaders have suggested the President's efforts are intended to exert control over so-called "blue" cities.
There's no word on what form a federal intervention force would take or when it might arrive, if at all.