The National Guard arrives in Chicago
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
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Summary
Tensions have been escalating in Chicago since the Trump administration began a widespread immigration enforcement operation across the city in early September. Officers have ransacked homes and detained children during raids. Local and state officials have loudly denounced the move and are pushing back against the effort, while residents have banded together to keep neighbors safe. But over the weekend a woman was shot by a Border Patrol agent, and after protests flared the president authorized National Guard troops to go into Illinois.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with reporter and Chicago resident Kim Bellware about what it’s felt like to be there and how the city has been responding.
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson with help from Rennie Svirnovsky. It was edited by Peter Bresnan and mixed by Sean Carter.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Chicago has become the epicenter of President Donald Trump's war on Democratic cities. |
| 0:08.0 | Over the last week, tensions have escalated dramatically. |
| 0:14.1 | The Trump administration has ramped up its immigration enforcement in Illinois, and Chicago in particular. |
| 0:20.4 | Immigration and customs enforcement, |
| 0:22.3 | or ICE, have taken a more aggressive approach in the city. They've initiated raids and arrested |
| 0:27.7 | hundreds of people. Those actions have inspired heated protests from local residents. |
| 0:32.9 | No peace. No justice, no peace. |
| 0:38.3 | Then on Saturday, a woman was shot by an ICE agent after an alleged confrontation with officers. |
| 0:44.3 | President Trump used the incident to justify sending the National Guard to Chicago. |
| 0:49.3 | If you look at Chicago, Chicago is a great city where there's a lot of crime. |
| 0:53.3 | And if the governor can't do the job, we'll do the job. |
| 0:56.6 | It's all very simple. |
| 0:58.0 | Well, as of Tuesday, at least 500 National Guard members have been federalized and activated into Illinois. |
| 1:04.0 | And as of Wednesday, they're here mostly in Chicago and the surrounding area. |
| 1:09.2 | Kim Bellware is a national reporter for the, based in Chicago, where she's been watching |
| 1:13.8 | all of this unfold. |
| 1:15.5 | And this is all coming at the same time that President Trump has continued to pump out |
| 1:20.7 | really heated rhetoric about the city, and many would say inaccurate rhetoric about the city's |
| 1:26.6 | crime problem. |
| 1:28.5 | Now that federal troops are on the ground in Chicago, Kim says the situation in the city could |
| 1:33.4 | get worse. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are actively |
| 1:38.9 | fighting Trump in court and in the Court of Public Opinion. Then this morning, another escalation. |
... |
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