ICE in Chicago: Trump threatens to jail JB Pritzker, Brandon Johnson

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Welcome to The Logoff: Days after deploying Nationwide Guard troops to Chicago towards the needs of native leaders, President Donald Trump is asking for town’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to be jailed.

What occurred? In a Fact Social put up Wednesday, Trump wrote, “Chicago Mayor ought to be in jail for failing to guard Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker additionally!”

What’s the context? Trump has deployed round 500 Nationwide Guard troops — 200 from Texas and 300 extra from Illinois — to the higher Chicago space, regardless of opposition from leaders within the metropolis and state. Each Johnson and Pritzker have vocally condemned the transfer, which Pritzker described as an “invasion.”

Why does this matter? The Logoff usually steers away from protecting Trump pronouncements till they translate into real-world impacts, as a result of they usually quantity to false alarms. Trump is definitely suggestible, so he’ll categorical openness to concepts put to him as questions, and he’s extra prone to say one thing than he's to comply with by with it. But it surely’s price underscoring each the absurdity and the seriousness of Trump’s put up.

First, it’s not instantly apparent what federal immigration brokers — who've aggressively deployed militarized power in Chicago, together with Black Hawk helicopters and tear gasoline — want safety from.

And second, whereas threats of jail aren’t something new for Trump — in 2016, he made calls to jail his opponent, Hillary Clinton, a serious function of his rallies — the context is considerably totally different now.

Trump efficiently engineered the indictment of former FBI director James Comey final month, and Rep. LaMonica McIver is currently facing farcical felony charges for “impeding” regulation enforcement earlier this yr. Prime Trump advisers like Stephen Miller have attacked judges and elected officers standing in the best way of immigration operations in more and more excessive phrases. Trump’s feedback on Wednesday could be the most recent instance of that extremism — however they shouldn’t go unnoticed.

And with that, it’s time to log out…

Don’t miss my colleague Constance Grady’s recent examination of one in every of Jane Austen’s less-known and less-loved works, Mansfield Park . The piece is an interesting deep dive into what we find out about Austen’s ideas on slavery, which not often appeared in her writing, and what — if something — we are able to be taught from how the subject does present up in Mansfield Park. Have a terrific night!