Illinois Gov JB Pritzker claims Trump has ‘dementia’ as he calls for invoking 25th Amendment
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker questioned Donald Trump's mental fitness on Tuesday, September 30, and demanded that the 25th Amendment be used to show the president the exit.
It all went down after Trump suggested alleged crime-ridden cities like Chicago could serve as a training ground for National Guard troops. That statement, delivered at a high-level military meeting in Virginia, brought forth a reaction from Pritzker.
JB Pritzker says Trump is suffering from dementia
Trump expressed an idea to send in federal agents and some Guard members to Chicago, partly to fight crime, partly to crack down on illegal immigration, and partly to keep ICE facilities safe. He framed cities like Chicago as “dangerous” and useful training spots for the Guard.
Trump to top military officials: "I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but our military. Because we're going into Chicago very soon. That's a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor." pic.twitter.com/v9gb2OhhcJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2025
Pritzker couldn’t bite his tongue while standing shoulder to shoulder with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson at a food insecurity event at the City Colleges of Chicago.
“It appears that Donald Trump not only has dementia set in, but he’s copying tactics of Vladimir Putin,” Pritzker responded in a clip posted by The Heartland Signal.
“Sending troops into cities, thinking that that’s some sort of proving ground for war or that indeed there’s some sort of internal war going on in the United States, is just frankly inane, and I’m concerned for his health.”
ILLINOIS GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D): "It appears that Donald Trump not only has dementia set in, but he's copying tactics of Vladimir Putin. Sending troops into cities, thinking that that's some sort of proving ground for war or that indeed there's some sort of internal war going on… pic.twitter.com/oGxa5xBl96
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) September 30, 2025
Later at the same press conference, Pritzker ripped into Trump again. “There is something genuinely wrong with this man and the 25th Amendment ought to be invoked,” he declared in remarks caught on video by Forbes Breaking News.
How does the 25th Amendment work?
It's worth noting that Section Four of the 25th Amendment basically lays out how to remove of a president unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.
Firstly, the VP and a Cabinet majority (or another body picked by Congress) can write up a declaration saying the president is unfit for the position. The VP subsequently steps in as acting president.
Then, the president can try to reclaim power by declaring he is capable of discharging the duties, but it gets transferred to Congress if the VP and Cabinet double down within four days.
Congress then has 21 days to vote, with two-thirds support in both chambers needed to keep the president sidelined. Otherwise, the president will be back in his position of power.
Bruce Springsteen joins the chorus for Trump's ouster
Pritzker isn’t the only one talking about the 25th Amendment in relation to Donald Trump. Last week, rock legend and longtime Trump critic Bruce Springsteen went off in a Time Magazine interview. He called Trump the “living personification of what the 25th Amendment and impeachment were for.”
Springsteen also said, “A lot of people bought into his lies."
“He doesn’t care about anybody but himself and the multibillionaires who stood behind him on Inauguration Day… You have to face the fact that a good number of Americans are simply comfortable with his politics of power and dominance,” Springsteen added.
“If Congress had any guts, he’d be consigned to the trash heap of history," the singer expressed.
