President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post saying Chicago was about to find out “why it’s called the Department of War” drew swift rebuke from Illinois leaders Saturday morning.
“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning,’” he posted on Truth Social, a reference to the 1979 war movie “Apocalypse Now” where Robert Duvall’s character Lt. Colonel Kilgore says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
“Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of War,” the post continued, which included an image of him dressed in an Army uniform and helicopters flying in the background with the words “Chipocalypse Now.”
Trump signed an executive order Friday authorizing the Department of War as a secondary title for the Department of Defense in a move that he said sends “a message of strength.”
The White House shared the post on its X account.
Gov. JB Pritzker responded to Trump’s post Saturday on X, saying it “is not normal.”
“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city,” Pritzker said in the post.
“This is not a joke. This is not normal.”
Speaking from the 24th annual Mexican Independence Day Parade in Pilsen Saturday, Sen. Dick Durbin called the post “disgusting.” “To suggest that the troops are coming into Chicago is an embarrassment,” he said.
In a post on X, Mayor Brandon Johnson called on Chicagoans to protect each other amid the threats.
“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,” Johnson said in the post. “We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”
The post comes as Trump ramps up federal enforcement in Chicago and the city prepares for anticipated increased operations by ICE. On Wednesday, Pritzker said he expects ICE agents to “begin actions on Saturday or over the weekend.”
This week, Trump suggested that New Orleans could be his next target for deploying the National Guard, in addition to sending troops to Chicago and Baltimore. He sent troops and federal agents to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., last month and to Los Angeles following clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear.
Contributing: Dorothy Hernandez, Selena Kuznikov, AP