Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tore into Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing the president of acting like a “terrorist” by threatening to cut off billions in federal funding to cities like Chicago.
“Trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will, and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave,” Johnson said. “He’s not going to hold the people of Chicago ransom.”
The sharp rebuke comes after Trump signed an executive order in February aimed at punishing so-called “sanctuary cities” — jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The order tells agencies to block federal dollars from going to cities that “facilitate” or support undocumented immigrants.
Chicago, a long-standing sanctuary city, stands to lose as much as $3.5 billion. Last year alone, the city received nearly $2.5 billion in federal funds. This year, with a projected $1.12 billion budget shortfall, Chicago is depending on $2.7 billion in federal support to keep critical services running.
“These aren’t threats anymore,” Johnson said. “These are real, adversarial attacks against working people.”
Johnson said he has no intention of traveling to Washington to negotiate with Trump, blasting the move as an attempt to force cities into compliance by using essential funding as leverage.
“Outside of a 2016 Cubs World Series ring, I’m not kissing a ring, okay?” he said. “The president of the United States of America has an open invitation to the fifth floor of the greatest freakin’ city in the world, the City of Chicago. He can come talk to me.”
“I have a responsibility to working people,” Johnson continued. “But trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation? That’s terrorism. We’re not going to negotiate with terrorists.”
Johnson joins a line of Chicago leaders who’ve clashed with Trump. His predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, famously blasted Trump in 2020 after he suggested protestors in the wake of George Floyd’s murder should be shot.
“I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump,” Lightfoot said at the time. “It’s two words. It begins with F and it ends with you.”
