Trump presses JB Pritzker to ‘invite us in’ to Chicago amid rising crime: ‘We are ready to go’

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump took aim at Chicago's Democratic leadership during the White House turkey pardon on Tuesday, urging them to "invite us in" to help battle crime.

Speaking in the Rose Garden during the annual holiday ritual, Trump used the moment to criticize Chicago’s crime surge and the Democrats he says are preventing him from addressing it.

“We’re ready to go,” he declared, insisting that Illinois Gov JB Pritzker only needs to “invite us in.” Trump said federal teams have already been “moving toward Chicago,” but claimed local leadership is still standing in the way.

The president also criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handling of the city’s spiraling violence.

Trump points to CTA attack as proof Chicago needs federal help

Trump underscored his point by highlighting one of Chicago’s most shocking recent crimes. On November 17, 26-year-old Bethany MaGee was aboard a CTA Blue Line train when she was doused in gasoline and set on fire by 50-year-old Lawrence Reed. “They burned the woman; they burned this beautiful woman,” Trump said.

He insisted Chicago could experience the same turnaround he claims to have achieved in Washington, DC, boasting that his administration made the nation’s capital “totally safe.” He said he could produce similar results in Chicago “in four to eight weeks” if local Democrats would step aside.

“It’s out of control,” he said, pointing to recent crimes and comparing potential progress to what he described as rapid improvements in DC and Memphis. City Hall and Springfield have so far remained silent on the offer of federal intervention.

Trump unleashes harsh jokes about JB Pritzker

Between pardoning the turkeys Gobble and Waddle, Trump turned Illinois Gov JB Pritzker into the punchline of the afternoon. “The mayor is incompetent, and the governor is … a big, fat slob,” Trump said. “He ought to invite us and say, ‘Please make Chicago safe.’ We’re gonna lose a great city if we don’t do it quickly,” he warned.

“I looked at the various cases, granting mercy, discovering the terrible trauma that everyone’s going through, and I had a little bit of a Pritzker joke,” Trump teased. “I was going to talk about Pritzker in size, but when I talk about Pritzker I get angry because he’s not letting us do the job. So I’m not going to tell my Pritzker joke,” he said, before doing exactly that.

“They have a very cute little Pritzker joke, some speechwriter wrote some joke about his weight. But I would never want to talk about his weight. I don’t talk about people being fat. I refuse to talk about the fact that he’s a fat slob, I don’t mention it,” Trump continued.

Trump mixes humor and holiday wishes in Thanksgiving remarks

Trump also indulged in some self-deprecating humor on Thanksgiving eve. “On a more serious note, as we gather around the dinner table, I'd like to lose a few pounds too, by the way, and I'm not going to lose it on Thanksgiving, I can tell you that, because I'm going to have a turkey,” he said.

“But it's not going to be that one,” he added, pointing at the newly liberated Gobble and Waddle. “I hope all Americans will have the chance to enjoy the fellowship of family and friends and renew our faith in God's providence,” Trump concluded.