Jake Tapper Flat Out Asks Border Czar: ‘Is President Trump Planning to Go to War in Chicago?’
CNN’s Jake Tapper confronted Trump administration border czar Tom Homan about the shocking meme posted by President Donald Trump depicting Chicago as an Apocalypse Now-style war zone.
In an interview on State of the Union, Tapper grilled Homan about the Truth Social meme in which Chicago was shown burning and Trump’s face was superimposed on the body of the Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore — a lead character in the iconic war film played by Robert Duvall. The post’s caption was a play on the movie’s signature line “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
“I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” the caption read. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
Tapper relayed the angry reaction of Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) — who wrote, in a post on X, “The president of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is normal. Donald Trump isn’t a strong man. He’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”
The CNN anchor’s first question to Homan was blunt.
“Is President Trump planning to go war in Chicago?” Tapper said.
Homan argued that Trump’s “words are being taken out of context.”
“We’re going to the war with the criminal cartels,” Homan said. “We’re going to war with illegal aliens — public safety threats that rape children, that raped citizens, that committing [sic] armed robberies, that distribute narcotics that kill Americans. We’re at war with criminal cartels. And Governor Pritzker protects criminal, illegal alien, public-safety threats every day in that state.”
“So maybe it should say criminal aliens in Chicago are about to find out why it’s called the Department of War, not Chicago itself,” Tapper shot back.
The State of the Union anchor went on to quiz Homan about the particulars of Trump sending National Guard troops into the windy city.
“Is the president talking about sending National Guard Troops and other federal troops into Chicago to handle deportations, or to handle violent criminals, or both, — like you just referred to violent criminals who are in this country illegally,” Tapper asked. “What is the operation going to look like?”
“Look, National Guard are always on the table,” Homan said. “We used them in Los Angeles, and we used them in Washington, DC. They’re a force multiplier. Now, do they arrest illegal aliens? No. ICE officers, board official agents who have Title 8 authority arrest illegal criminal aliens. But the National Guard does provide protection for us. It does provide us infrastructure, provides us transportation, provides us additional processing capability that allows the ones who [are] immigration authorities, the badge and guns on the street continue arresting the bad guy. So yeah, they’re a force multiplier and they’re on the table.”
When asked if the public should “expect action in Chicago this week,” Homan replied, “absolutely.”
Watch above, via CNN.
