Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made clear on Tuesday that he doesn’t intend to play good with President Donald Trump to avert a possible withholding of greater than $3 billion.
“Making an attempt to drive your will to interrupt the spirit of working folks with a purpose to have a dialog, that’s terrorism. We’re not going to barter with terrorists,” mentioned Johnson throughout a press convention, experiences the Chicago Tribune.
President Trump, decided to execute his agenda of mass deportations all through the nation, has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funding from states and cities that refuse to cooperate along with his administration. Trump has notably had his eyesight on sanctuary cities that present a secure haven for undocumented folks dwelling in the US.
Chicago, the nation’s third-largest metropolis, may lose all $3.5 billion of its federal funding if Trump follows by way of on his risk. That features $1.5 billion, which the administration can also be threatening to withhold if the town’s faculty districts don’t adjust to Trump’s order to eradicate range, fairness, and inclusion insurance policies.
When requested to make clear whether or not he was calling Trump a terrorist after making his Tuesday remarks, Mayor Johnson mentioned, “No. What I’m saying is making an attempt to carry folks hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will after which maintain up our tax {dollars}, that’s how terrorists behave.” He added, “These aren’t threats anymore, proper? These are actual, adversarial assaults in opposition to working folks.”
Johnson additionally referenced the function of race, telling reporters, “There’s an extended historical past of Black political leaders speaking to individuals who could not see us as first-class.” Nonetheless, he made clear he is not going to be “kissing the ring” of President Trump.
“Exterior of a 2016, , Cubs World Sequence ring, I’m not kissing a hoop, OK. The president United States of America has an open invitation to the fifth ground of the best freaking metropolis on the planet, the town of Chicago.”
