In a bold response to President Donald Trump’s recent threats, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson characterized the actions as ‘terrorism.’
During a news conference on Tuesday, Johnson addressed Trump’s announcement to withhold billions in federal funding from sanctuary cities, stating, ‘Trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation — that’s terrorism.
And we’re not going to negotiate with terrorists,’ he asserted.
When pressed further on whether he was labeling Trump a terrorist, Johnson clarified, ‘No. What I’m saying is trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will and then, hold up our tax dollars — that is how terrorists behave.’
He mentioned emphatically, ‘He’s not going to hold the people of Chicago ransom.’
Last week, Trump, who has repeatedly targeted Chicago, threatened to withhold federal funding through a social media post, claiming he was ‘working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!’
He further proclaimed, ‘No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country and are being mocked all over the World.’
Despite the potential loss of approximately $3.5 billion in federal grants to Chicago and $1.3 billion more earmarked for the Chicago Public Schools, Mayor Johnson remained defiant during the conference.
When asked about the possibility of meeting Trump at the White House, akin to visits made by Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, he firmly responded, ‘Outside of a 2016…Cubs World Series ring, I’m not kissing the ring.’
Johnson expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with Trump but emphasized that any meeting must take place within his office at City Hall.
‘I’m happy to talk to him.
But I’m going to tell him the truth.
You got to show up for working people in this city, in this country — not for the oligarchs and the ultra-rich.
That’s what has destroyed our economy.
We have the ultra-rich who continue to receive tax breaks while the rest of us have to pay for their failures,’ he said.
Johnson continued, urging, ‘He should get here as soon as possible,’ as the citizens of Chicago, and the nation, need to see him advocate for working people.
Both Lightfoot and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel took pride in their confrontations with Trump, as the president holds low favorability ratings in Chicago.
Criticizing Trump has consistently been a politically advantageous move, and that sentiment appears to resonate with Johnson, who has recently faced public approval ratings hovering in the single digits.
Last month, Johnson faced scrutiny from some for appearing cautious during his testimony before a House Oversight Committee regarding Chicago’s sanctuary city status — a policy that prevents local police from collaborating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
However, on Tuesday, Johnson seemed ready to escalate his rhetoric.
He remarked that it was ‘not a coincidence’ that Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott chose to send busloads of migrants to Chicago, suggesting a calculated attack on the city.
‘They were working to destabilize democratically-run cities [and] to do it under the guise of immigration reform…They wanted chaos,’ he asserted.
Amidst a migrant crisis that has dominated his first year in office and stoked racial tensions across the city, Johnson expressed his concern.
‘Unfortunately, this president is determined to destabilize cities like Chicago, and it is incredibly reprehensible and sometimes feels incorrigible at times that this individual refuses to recognize the value of the cities of this country,’ he lamented.
Regarding the potential repercussions of cutting off funding from the Chicago Public Schools, Johnson described it as a predictable tactic.
‘When forces want to intimidate and erode and disrupt democracies, they go after the institutions and particularly our public institutions,’ he stated.
‘There are individuals who firmly believe that the teaching of Black history, Asian-American history is a threat to their privilege,’ he concluded.
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