Brandon Johnson admits Chicago saw 30% drop in homicides after Trump crime crackdown

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed back on President Donald Trump’s claims that federal actions made the city safer, but acknowledged that there has been a significant reduction in homicides.

Johnson made the remarks during an appearance on MSNOW’s “The Weekend,” where he was asked whether Trump was correct in saying his actions improved public safety in Chicago. 

“He is not,” Johnson replied, accusing Trump of increasing “instability” in the country.

“Where ICE and federal agents were present, we actually saw an increase in violence. In other words, the tension and the chaos that federal agents bring to cities in America, it actually is counter-productive,” he claimed.

However, Johnson then acknowledged a sharp decline in violent crime. “Yes, we saw a 30 percent reduction in homicides, shooting, shooting victims, all down,” he said.

Johnson also accused Trump of escalating tensions with local governments, claiming the president has “literally declared war on American cities.” Johnson pointed to executive orders he signed in response that were aimed at limiting federal immigration enforcement, including efforts to create ICE-free zones in cities.

Trump addressed Chicago crime last month during remarks at the White House, saying crime had fallen but could drop further if Illinois Governor JB Pritzker cooperated with federal authorities.

“We just had numbers from Chicago where Chicago crime has gone down pretty good. It could go down 100 percent virtually but we’re fighting with that governor who’s so incompetent,” Trump told reporters.

In recent days, Trump has signaled a shift in tone on deploying federal forces to high-crime cities. In an interview with NBC News last week, he said his administration does not want to intervene unless local leaders request help.

“I don’t wanna go and force ourselves into a city, even if their numbers are terrible,” Trump said. “we have five cities that we’re looking at very strongly. But we wanna be invited.”  

When asked whether Chicago was one of those cities, Trump said federal involvement had already reduced crime there and could do more.

“We could straighten out the crime in Chicago. We’ve already brought it down 25 percent just by being there. We could have Chicago be a safe city just like D.C. is a safe city. Just like all of these places that we’ve gone to. And I look forward — you know, I didn’t campaign on that. I campaigned on law and order, but I didn’t think I’d be going into individual cities and making ‘em safe.”