Topline
Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, said the president’s controversial “Apocalypse Now” post on Truth Social Saturday was “taken out of context,” telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that the administration was only going to war with “criminal cartels” and “illegal aliens” in Chicago, adding that “most sanctuary cities across the country” could expect to see immigration enforcement actions.
The Trump administration plans to target ‘criminal cartels’ in Chicago, Tom Homan told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.
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Key Facts
“We’re going to war with illegal aliens, public safety threats that rape children, that raped citizens, that committed armed robberies, that distribute narcotics that kill Americans,” Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday morning.
Homan said deploying the National Guard to Chicago was also “always on the table,” but clarified they would only provide things like “protection” and “processing capability” while only Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents would make arrests.
When asked if Chicago could see immigration enforcement action this week, Homan said “absolutely,” also telling Tapper “you can expect action in most sanctuary cities across the country,” who he said “knowingly release illegal alien public safety threats to the streets every day.”
Key Background
Homan’s comments come only one day after Trump posted an AI-generated image on his Truth Social account featuring him riding into Chicago in a reference to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War film “Apocalypse Now.” The post included a caption reading “ Chicago [sic] about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” and quickly drew criticism from Illinois leaders, who have been pushing back on the president’s threats to deploy the National Guard. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused Trump of “threatening to go to war with an American city,” while Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson insisted he “wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution.” On Sunday, Homan criticized both Democratic leaders for failing to work with the administration. “ICE agents have been flooding the zone in Chicago for a while now. So he’s aware of what’s going on,” Homan said of Pritzker. “He knows we have been there. And he’s failed to work with us.”