Mayor Brandon Johnson responds to Trump's threats to withhold federal funding: "That is how terrorists behave"
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of acting like a terrorist by threatening to strip away federal funding from sanctuary cities like Chicago.
"Trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will, and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave. Look, he's not going to hold the people of Chicago ransom," Johnson said on Tuesday.
Asked if he was calling Mr. Trump a terrorist, Johnson said no.
Since taking office, Mr. Trump repeatedly has threatened to withhold federal funding from cities and states with sanctuary policies that protect undocumented immigrants.
Shortly after taking office in January, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that seeks to halt federal funding to sanctuary cities.
On Feb. 6, the Justice Department sued the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago and other local jurisdictions alleging their sanctuary laws interfere with the Trump administration's increased immigration enforcement in the area.
On Feb. 19, Mr. Trump issued another executive order directing executive departments and agencies to ensure "Federal payments to States and localities do not, by design or effect, facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration, or abet so-called 'sanctuary' policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation."
Last week, Mr. Trump again said sanctuary cities like Chicago could lose all their federal funding. On his Truth Social account on Thursday, the president wrote, "No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!"
Late Tuesday, border czar Tom Homan was asked if sanctuary state and city leaders should be prosecuted for violating laws on harboring illegal aliens.
"Absolutely — and hold tight on that one, because it's coming," Homan said. "It's coming."
Asked Tuesday if he would be willing to go to the White House to meet with Mr. Trump in an effort to convince him not to withhold any federal funding for Chicago, Johnson said, "Outside of a 2016 Cubs World Series ring, I'm not kissing a ring, okay?"
"The president of the United States of America has an open invitation to the Fifth Floor of the greatest freakin' city in the world, the City of Chicago. He can come talk to me," Johnson said. "Whether it's the White House, whether it's the Fifth Floor [of Chicago City Hall], I have a responsibility to working people, and advocating on behalf of working people, but trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation? That's terrorism. We're not going to negotiate with terrorists."
Johnson did not say what contingency plans, if any, his administration has in place should the president make good on his threats to take away federal funding previously pledged to Chicago, but he acknowledged the city already is facing a tough challenge with an anticipated $1.12 billion budget shortfall in 2026.
"These aren't threats anymore, right? These are real, adversarial attacks against working people," he said. "This is going to be tough. It's going to be hard, but this is Chicago. We're up for it."
Last year, Chicago received almost $2.5 billion total in federal funding, and this year the city's budget is counting on $2.7 billion in federal grants.
Other local government bodies also rely heavily on federal funds. Last year, Chicago Public Schools received $1.3 billion in federal funding, and the Chicago Transit Authority expects to receive nearly $2 billion in federal funding for the Red Line expansion, construction on which is expected to begin next year.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson's remarks.
Johnson isn't the first Chicago mayor with ultra-tough words for a Trump White House.
In 2020, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot angrily accused Mr. Trump of dishonoring George Floyd's memory, when he suggested people protesting his death at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis should be shot.
"I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It's two words. It begins with F and it ends with you," Lightfoot said.
One year earlier, Lightfoot had crossed the aisle, meeting first daughter Ivanka Trump at the White House.
