‘Wannabe dictator’: Illinois governor calls out Trump as US president threatens Chicago with apocalyptic force | World News

US President Donald Trump threatened Chicago amplifying his promise to send National Guard troops and immigration officers to the city posting a parody image from a 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” featuring a ball of flames as helicopters encircle the country’s third largest city, triggering a pushback from Illinois’ Democratic Governor JB Pritzker.
“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” read the post the Republican leader on Truth Social with the phrase “Chipocalypse Now.”

The president didn’t provide any further details regarding the adminration’s plan to send troops to Chicago, however, the post appeared to refer to an executive order that Trump signed on Friday to rebrand Depart of Defense as Department of War and the defence secretary as the secretary of war.
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The post Trump triggered a response Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who called the US president a “wannabe dictator.” “The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke,” Pritzker said on Saturday in a post on X.

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.
This is not a joke. This is not normal.
Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated a wannabe dictator. pic.twitter.com/f87Zek7Cqb
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) September 6, 2025
The Democratic leader further added, “This is not normal. Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated a wannabe dictator.” Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, while speaking to reporters during Mexican independence day celebrations in Chicago called Trump’s post “disgusting”.
“His tweet this morning was disgusting. To suggest that the troops are coming into Chicago or the Department of War is going to be engaged, it is embarrassing,” the senator said, reported NBC News.
Trump’s post threatening Chicago with National Guards deployment and immigration raids adds the city to a l of Democratic-led cities that have been targeted the Trump adminration for expanded federal enforcement.
The federal government seems prepared to step up immigration enforcement and military deployment in Chicago, like it did in Los Angeles, Washington DC among others.
(with inputs from NBC News, AP)