Trump needs to deploy the National Guard to Chicago immediately!

On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order ending cashless bail nationwide and creating rapid-response National Guard units that can be deployed to any city in need. 

Chicago, which Trump has aptly said “is a killing field right now,” is one of the candidates. 

Send in the feds, Mr. President. 

Those forces should include ATF, DEA and FBI agents and other Department of Justice resources, as well as federalized National Guard troops if necessary. 

It’s high time to act against the dereliction of duty we’ve seen from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. 

The results of the DC takeover already speak for themselves: There have been no murders in Washington in nearly two weeks, and other crimes are also way down. 

We’ve seen countless video interviews with DC residents of all ages, especially in the black community, expressing gratitude to Trump for making them feel much safer. 

In response to Trump’s threat to federalize Chicago, Pritzker said, “Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here or needed here . . . it is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American.” 

He also claimed Trump is “doing this for theatrics. He wants to create chaos . . . there is not an emergency in Chicago . . . nothing that calls for troops on the street.” 

Likewise, Johnson has demanded “more federal resources for public safety” but complained that “an unsolicited, unwarranted military takeover is not needed.” 

Deploying National Guard troops across Chicago may not be what all residents want to see. 

However, when Chicagoans are being senselessly killed every day, it may be warranted as a temporary stopgap measure to literally stop the bleeding while federal, state and local resources are fully activated to reduce crime. 

On June 24, 2022, my innocent teenage baby brother, Christian, was murdered in Chicago.

I started the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety to advocate against soft-on-crime policies and push policies that create safer communities across the nation. 

Trump is doing exactly that with his recent actions. 

If Trump does federalize Chicago, he’ll likely repeat the successful interagency mobilization we’re now seeing in Washington, DC. 

National Guard troops in Chicago would support law enforcement while serving as a deterrent “show of force.” 

They can temporarily detain suspects, but they cannot make arrests. 

To be clear, no National Guard troops made arrests during this year’s Los Angeles riots, and they’re not making arrests in DC — because they don’t have policing powers under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. 

Johnson and Pritzker seem to be confused about that clear distinction in roles and authority. 

And while Johnson claims homicides in Chicago are down by 40%, against what baseline and time frame? 

Regardless of how the statistics are spun, Chicago remains one of the most dangerous cities in the country: According to the Chicago Police Department, the city has already reported 940 shootings, 256 murders and 1,094 sexual assaults this year — that’s about one murder a day. 

Moreover, according to the Illinois Policy Institute, Chicago homicide arrests were down last year from 42% to just 27% — with only 133 arrests made in the face of 498 reported homicides! 

That’s unacceptable and intolerable. Johnson has handcuffed his own police department. 

“My focus is to protect the people of this city,” Johnson recently said. 

Which people?

His focus seems to be on coddling criminals through cashless-bail policies, emboldening them to believe there are no consequences for their crimes. 

I applaud Trump’s efforts to end cashless bail nationwide.

I’m sure that lawsuits will follow in the coming weeks — but in the meantime, Congress would be wise to take this issue up now to codify a ban on cashless bail into federal law. 

Here’s what Johnson and Pritzker really hate: Trump is willing to expend political capital to shine a light on their gross incompetence. 

They know that if Trump takes federal action in Chicago, the city will become much safer in short order. 

They know Trump’s actions will work, just as it did in Los Angeles, on our southern border and in Washington, DC — and they are scared. 

No president has been this daring on the issues of crime and corruption since perhaps Teddy Roosevelt. 

Johnson and Pritzker have failed the people of Chicago and across the state of Illinois.

They have been derelict in their duties to keep us safe. 

Now it’s time for Trump to act.

Enough is enough. 

Gianno Caldwell, a Fox News analyst and founder of the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, is the author of “The Day My Brother Was Murdered: My Journey Through America’s Violent Crime Crisis”