Calling Chicago the “world’s murder capital,” the Republican president has been threatening since late August to send in the National Guard after already deploying it to two other Democratic strongholds: Los Angeles and Washington.

On Saturday, September 6, Donald Trump once again raised the prospect of military intervention in Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, mentioning the new name given to the Department of Defense, while the Democratic opposition condemned an “empowered dictator.”

“Chicago will understand why it is called the Department of War,” read a message posted on the U.S. president’s Truth Social account, where for days he has threatened to send federal troops there to deal with crime.

“This is no joke.”

The post included an image, apparently generated by artificial intelligence, showing the president dressed in a military uniform against a backdrop of fires and helicopters flying across the orange sky over Chicago, with the caption “Chipocalypse Now.”

This direct reference to Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola’s film about the Vietnam War, was accompanied by a paraphrased famous line from the movie: “I love the smell of the expelled in the morning” — a nod to Trump’s key cause of fighting immigration.

The post did not amuse the Democratic governor of Illinois, where Chicago is located. “This is not a joke,” J. B. Pritzker wrote on X on Saturday. “The President of the United States is threatening to start a war against an American city.” “Illinois will not be intimidated by an empowered dictator,” added this prominent Democratic figure.

“Rat hole,” “World’s murder capital”

Calling Chicago a “rat hole” or the “world’s murder capital,” Donald Trump has threatened since late August to send in the National Guard, the reserve military force he has already deployed to two other Democratic opposition strongholds: Los Angeles, California, and Washington.

Uniformed soldiers equipped with armored vehicles have been patrolling the U.S. capital since mid-August. On Saturday, hundreds, if not thousands, of people marched through the streets of Washington to protest the “occupation” of the city by federal troops.

“In Washington, the big crimes are committed in the White House,” read one of the signs. On Wednesday, Donald Trump also mentioned sending troops to New Orleans, in addition to or instead of Chicago, though his words have so far not been followed by action. On Friday, he signed a decree renaming the U.S. Department of Defense the “Department of War,” adding that he wanted to send the rest of the world a “message of victory” and “strength.” | Le Figaro, BGNES