President Donald Trump intensified his threats towards Chicago this weekend by posting a parody “Apocalypse Now” picture with a fiery ball of flames and helicopters flying over town skyline. The submit included the road: “I like the scent of deportations within the morning. Chicago about to seek out out why it’s known as the Division of WAR.”
He’s now strolling again that incendiary remark, nevertheless, and saying that he doesn’t need to go to warfare with the folks of the windy metropolis whereas disgustingly disrespecting a Black reporter.
Supply: Andrew Harnik / Getty
The imagery mimicked Lt. Col. Kilgore from the dystopian 1979 Vietnam Struggle movie, full with Trump photoshopped into the character’s hat. The caption — rebranded “Chipocalypse Now” — adopted his months-long sample of taunting Democratic-led cities whereas pledging to ship in federal muscle.
Based on the Related Press, Trump’s meme got here after he signed an government order on Friday to rename the Protection Division because the “Division of Struggle,” a transfer that requires congressional approval. The step comes after his unsuccessful push to be thought of for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump’s social media submit and government motion signify a doubling down on his guarantees to deploy each Nationwide Guard troops and immigration enforcement brokers to Chicago, just like actions he has already taken elsewhere.
Trump Walks Again Chicago “I Love The Odor Of Deportations” Put up
The NY Occasions studies that he spoke to reporters earlier than he departed the White Home for the U.S. Open, and when requested by Yamiche Alcidor whether or not he was “threatening to go to warfare with Chicago,” he known as it “pretend information,” and chastised her.
“We’re not going to warfare, we’re going to scrub up our cities,” he stated after disgustingly disrespecting Yamiche and calling her “second price.” “We’re going to scrub them up so that they don’t kill 5 folks each week.”
So sickening!
Sample Of Federal Takeovers
AP studies that Trump beforehand despatched troops to Los Angeles in June and has stored them in Washington, D.C., since final month. He has additionally floated the concept of sending federal forces to Baltimore, New Orleans, and Portland, Oregon — at one level saying authorities might “wipe ’em out,” apparently referencing protest footage.
Whereas particulars in regards to the Chicago plan stay sparse, Illinois leaders have already made their opposition clear. Metropolis and state officers say they’re getting ready lawsuits to cease the administration’s enforcement enlargement.
Pritzker Fires Again
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat and attainable 2028 presidential contender, blasted Trump’s submit in a pointy assertion. Over a picture of the president’s parody, Pritzker wrote on X:
“The president is threatening to go to warfare with an American metropolis. This isn’t a joke. This isn’t regular. Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois received’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”
Different notable leaders and political figures have chimed in to the dialog towards Trump’s concern ways.
“Most individuals are saying, ‘When you name him a dictator, if he stops crime, he might be no matter he desires’ — I’m not a dictator, by the best way,” Trump stated. “Not that I don’t have — I might — the proper to do something I need to do. I’m the president of the US. If I believe our nation is at risk — and it’s at risk in these cities — I can do it.”
As AP notes, the backlash in Illinois is already constructing, with leaders plotting lawsuits and residents bracing for what a federal sweep might seem like on their streets. However as an alternative of calming fears, Trump leaned on a Hollywood warfare flick to flex his energy, turning Apocalypse Now into marketing campaign materials.
It’s a chilling signal of the occasions: whereas Chicago prepares for attainable boots on the bottom, the president remains to be play-acting on-line. The true query is whether or not “Chipocalypse Now” stays only a meme — or turns into a full-blown federal takeover.
