Obama warns 'all Americans are at risk' after Trump threatens to clamp down on Chicago
Source: The Independent
Friday 29 August 2025 15:33 BST
Barack Obama has slammed Donald Trump after he threatened to clamp down on crime in Chicago, as part of a major national crackdown.
On Thursday, internal documents obtained by the New York Times revealed the Trump administration was plotting a mass immigration operation in Chicago – involving 200 homeland security officials and the use of a naval base outside of the city as a staging area.
In response, the former president said “all Americans [are] at risk” in response to an op-ed on Trump’s paramilitary efforts by renowned Times’ columnist Ezra Klein. In Klein’s piece, he interviews journalist Radley Balko, who has been documenting the militarization and law enforcement efforts under Trump, in his Substack, The Watch.
“This interview [...] provides a useful overview of some of the dangerous trends we’ve been seeing in recent months regarding federalization and militarization of state and local police functions,” said Obama in a tweet on X Thursday.
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/obama-trump-chicago-crime-crackdown-b2816425.html
Link to tweet
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This interview, which is also available to listen to as a podcast, provides a useful overview of some of the dangerous trends we’ve been seeing in recent months regarding federalization and militarization of state and local police functions.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Trump Is Building His Own Paramilitary Force
The journalist Radley Balko explains the mechanisms Trump is using to create a personal army.
10:32 AM · Aug 28, 2025
45 is targeting Chicago for the other obvious reason that Obama made that his "home base". The Presidential Library is still on track. As of the last update in April - https://www.obama.org/stories/construction-update-april-2025-celebrate-sustainability-month/
Rendering of what it would look like when completed -
= new reply since forum marked as read
and the more we ignore it, the more we lose.
"The Independent" is not a "podcast" but a UK media outlet reporting on what was said in an interview on some other "media" outlet". 
