See updates through September 30, 2025, at end of post.
It appears that Donald Trump is declaring war on U.S. cities: “‘Chicago [is] about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,’ Trump wrote [on Truth Social]. On Friday [September 5], the president signed an executive order rebranding the Defense Department as the Department of War without congressional approval.”[1]
It’s not just Chicago. “[‘Border Czar’] Tom Homan[] said residents of cities with pro-immigrant policies all over the United States should also expect stepped-up immigration enforcement in their neighborhoods.” Homan branded unauthorized migrants uniformly as “public safety threats”[2] when the vast majority of them, living in the shadows, are otherwise law-abiding, at least in part to avoid contact with white supremacist gangsters (so-called “police”).
Homan also explained that National Guard units will be deployed in support of these ‘enforcement’ actions.[3] These will presumably be fully armed as they are in Washington, D.C.[4]
A judge has already ruled that such a deployment in Los Angeles, for the same ostensible purposes, violated the Posse Comitatus Act.[5] The Trump administration clearly does not care. Cities, not just Chicago, are about to face the National Guard under the so-called “Department of War.”
Update, September 8, 2025: Stepped-up federal immigration enforcement has begun in Chicago and is being rationalized with exaggerated claims of migrants’ criminality.[6] The Supreme Court appears to be giving it the green light.[7]
Update, September 28, 2025: Please see a new post entitled, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,”[8] at https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
Update, September 30, 2025: Donald Trump suggested that military “troops should use ‘dangerous’ American cities as ‘training grounds.’”[9]
[1] Mariana Alfaro, “Trump border czar warns sanctuary cities nationwide to ‘expect action,’” Washington Post, September 7, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/07/trump-sanctuary-cities-ice-operations/
[2] Mariana Alfaro, “Trump border czar warns sanctuary cities nationwide to ‘expect action,’” Washington Post, September 7, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/07/trump-sanctuary-cities-ice-operations/
[3] Mariana Alfaro, “Trump border czar warns sanctuary cities nationwide to ‘expect action,’” Washington Post, September 7, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/07/trump-sanctuary-cities-ice-operations/
[4] Zachary Cohen and Haley Britzky, “National Guard troops in Washington, DC, begin carrying weapons,” Cable News Network, August 25, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/24/politics/national-guard-dc-weapons
[5] Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, “Judge rules Trump can't act as national police chief,” Politico, September 2, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/02/trump-los-angeles-national-guard-ruling-00539393; Devan Cole, “Judge says Trump administration’s use of US military in Los Angeles violated federal law,” Cable News Network, September 3, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/02/politics/national-guard-california-trump-posse-comitatus-act-breyer
[6] Arelis R. Hernández and Marianne LeVine, “ICE launches ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ targeting immigrants in Chicago,” Washington Post, September 8, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/09/08/ice-midway-blitz-chicago-trump/
[7] Justin Jouvenal, “Supreme Court lifts limits on immigration raids in the Los Angeles area,” Washington Post, September 8, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/08/supreme-court-lifts-limits-immigration-raids-los-angeles-area/
[8] David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,” Not Housebroken, September 28, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
[9] Avery Lotz, “Trump says military should use U.S. cities as ‘training grounds,’” Axios, September 30, 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/09/30/trump-military-training-grounds-chicago-portland