Pritkzer, Johnson respond to Trump criticisms, threat of National Guard deployment in Chicago
In response, Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson shared statements on X, with varying degrees of sarcasm.
Here's what we know.
Trump vows to end cashless bail in Chicago
Trump repeatedly criticized the cashless bail system in several states throughout his press briefing, specifically calling out the initiatives in New York City and Chicago.
"Every place in the country where you have no-cash bail is a disaster," Trump said. "That's what started it in Chicago. I mean, bad politicians started it, bad leadership started it."
The president claimed the system allowed murderers to be out on no-cash bail "before the day is out" and vowed to put an end to it. (The new Illinois bail system, however, bases release on community risk rather than financial means.)
"We're going to end that in Chicago," Trump said. "We're going to change the statute, and I'm going to have to get the Republicans to vote because the Democrats are weak on crime."
What is no-cash bail?
Illinois ended its cash bail system on Jan. 1, 2023, thanks to the Safe-T Act.
The new cashless bail system bases pre-trial detention on community risk rather than financial means, according to a 2022 press release from Pritzker's office.
The new system would "ensure that individuals who pose a risk to the community aren't released from jail just because they are able to pay bail, while people without financial means sit in jail regardless of whether they pose a risk at all," according to the release.
Trump speaks on potential National Guard deployment in Chicago, calls Illinois leaders 'incompetant'
The president said he would be deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C., following an assault on a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer. When asked if he would consider doing the same in Chicago and Los Angelas, he said, "We're just going to see what happens."
He then shifted gears and called both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson "incompetant."
"And if we need to, we're going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster," Trump said. "We have a mayor there who is totally incompetant. He's an incompetant man. And we have an incompetant governor there. Pritzker's an incompetant. His family threw him out of the business, and he ran for governor. And now I understand he wants to be president. But I noticed he lost a little weight, so maybe he has a chance."
Pritzker sarcastically responded to a clip of the briefing on X, saying, "Donald, thanks for the compliment! Let's not lie to the public, you and I both know you have no authority to take over Chicago. By the way, where are the Epstein files?"
Johnson similarly shared a statement on X in response to Trump's National Guard threat, saying in part, "If President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence. Sending in the National Guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts."
He also outlined Chicago's recent reduction in crime rates, with homicides down 30% and shootings down nearly 40% in the last year.
Joey Garrison, Tom Vanden Brook, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Josh Meyer, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy and Sudiksha Kochi contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: What is cashless bail? Trump vows to end 'disaster' system in Illinois
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