Vance says there is 'no immediate' plan to send National Guard troops to Chicago

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday told reporters that there is no specific or immediate plan to send National Guard troops to Chicago, but urged Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker to call on the administration for help.

President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he planned to send federal forces to Chicago to help crack down on crime in the same manner as he did in Washington, D.C., last month, though he did not state how many troops would go.

Vance said that the Trump administration wants the governor to be involved in the deployment and to work with them to bring down crime in the metropolis after a violent weekend in the city saw at least nine people killed, and 52 others injured.

“I mean, look, there are no immediate plans but the president has said he has the legal authority to protect American citizens, whether that’s in Chicago or Washington, D.C.,” Vance said, per The Hill. “Obviously, as the president said, we want the governor to be a partner here. 

"We would love it, Democrat or Republican, if we had governors who were willing to actually be partners in cutting down crime and our country, unfortunately, looks like that’s not what we have in JB Pritzker," Vance added.

The comment comes as the Trump administration and Illinois officials clash over the crime rate in Chicago. Illinois' Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Tuesday accused the administration of trying to "manufacture" a crime crisis in the city in order to justify sending in the National Guard. 

"He wants to ... inflame tensions and he wants to make sure that he can cause some sort of crisis so that he can say that he’s coming to the rescue," she said.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.