On Saturday, former President Donald Trump doubled down on his threats to send National Guard troops and immigration officers to Chicago, sharing a parody image inspired by the film Apocalypse Now. The image showed helicopters over a fiery Chicago skyline with Trump declaring: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
The post, labeled “Chipocalypse Now”, played off Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War classic, in which Robert Duvall’s character famously says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” The illustration featured Trump in a military-style hat similar to Duvall’s character, Lt. Col. Kilgore.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, blasted Trump in response, calling him a “wannabe dictator.”
The message came just a day after Trump signed an executive order to rename the Defense Department as the Department of War. The change, however, still requires approval from Congress.
Trump has repeatedly singled out Chicago—alongside Los Angeles, Washington, and potentially Baltimore, New Orleans, and Portland—as targets for expanded federal enforcement. Over the summer, he ordered National Guard deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, and hinted that Portland could be next, saying federal forces should “wipe ’em out”—though critics noted he may have been referring to old protest footage.
Chicago officials and Illinois state leaders have already vowed to challenge Trump’s plans in court. Governor Pritzker, viewed by some as a possible 2028 presidential contender, said Trump is treating an American city like a battlefield. “This is not a joke. This is not normal,” he posted on X, adding: “Donald Trump isn’t a strongman—he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be bullied by a wannabe dictator.”
Trump has often suggested he has broad authority to deploy the National Guard without limits. Last month, he argued that many Americans would accept him being called a dictator if it meant reducing crime. “I’m not a dictator—by the way,” Trump said at the time. “Not that I don’t have the right to do anything I want. I’m the president of the United States. If I think the country is in danger—and it is in danger in these cities—I can do it.”