President Donald Trump ignited outrage on Saturday after posting an AI-generated image of himself towering over the Chicago skyline with helicopters, flames, and the phrase “Chipocalypse Now.” The post, shared on his Truth Social account, appeared to threaten the city with troops and mass deportations, while referencing his recent executive order renaming the Pentagon the Department of War.
“Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the world, by far. Pritzker needs help badly; he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast,” Trump wrote.
Illinois leaders swiftly condemned the remarks.
Gov. JB Pritzker blasted Trump’s comments as both inaccurate and insulting:
“The president’s absurd characterizations do not match what is happening on the ground here. He has no idea what he’s talking about. There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops. He is insulting the people of Chicago by calling our home a hellhole.”
Pritzker went further, calling Trump “a scared man” and declaring, “Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also denounced the post, framing it as an attack on democratic values:
“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. We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”
The inflammatory post follows Trump’s recent threats to launch an immigration raid in Chicago, part of a broader push to deploy federal troops and immigration agents in Democratic-led cities.
