Trump Warns Chicago ‘Will Die’ as Pritzker Rejects Federal Help

Chicago had two very different kinds of shots over the weekend.

Forty-one people were shot across the city, three fatally.

Gov. JB Pritzker, meanwhile, joined nearly 2,000 revelers knocking back Malört in a world-record attempt.

Proud to be with you all in Chicago last night as we set the record for how many people could take a shot of Malört at the same time. pic.twitter.com/O3d6SUE80A

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) August 31, 2026

President Trump saw an opening.

“The city will die if the Federal Government, a fine tuned crime fighting machine, is not invited in, by the Mayor or Governor to HELP,” Trump wrote Tuesday on TRUTH Social.

“I am awaiting the call.”

The warning followed another bloody weekend in Chicago, including the city’s largest mass shooting of the year. Fifteen people were wounded in that single Saturday attack.

Chicago has recorded 1,255 shooting victims in 2026 through Aug. 29, according to city data — a 0.7% increase from the same period last year.

Trump called the violence “out of control” and argued that Chicago needs the kind of federal intervention his administration deployed in Washington, D.C.

“Nobody should be forced to live under these conditions,” Trump said.

“The State and City can’t do what I do. Governor Pritzker, CALL!!!”

Trump tells JB Pritzker to call in for federal help to get crime under control in Chicago: “Nobody should be forced to live under these conditions.” pic.twitter.com/i8KiKlnlBZ

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 1, 2026

Pritzker has resisted Trump’s push for federal intervention.

Trump warns Chicago ‘will die’ if lefty Gov. Pritzker refuses federal help after bloody weekend leaves 41 shot https://t.co/RUiPDfmZ0M pic.twitter.com/k5e1TLLNjo

— New York Post (@nypost) September 1, 2026