The Latest: Trump intensifies promises of federal law enforcement action in Chicago

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President Donald Trump has amplified his promises to send National Guard troops and immigration agents to Chicago by posting a parody image from “Apocalypse Now” featuring a ball of flames as helicopters zoom over the nation’s third-largest city.

“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning,’” Trump wrote on his social media site. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”

The weekend post follows Trump’s repeated threats to add Chicago to the list of other Democratic-led cities he’s targeted for expanded federal enforcement, including Los Angeles and Washington — marking the latest flashpoint in a broader national struggle over how far the federal government can push local authorities to cooperate with its immigration agenda.

Details on the expected intervention have been sparse, including its focus and when exactly it’s expected to begin, though Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that federal law enforcement action will come to Chicago this week.

Here's the latest:

Several prominent Republicans are echoing Trump’s spokespeople in calling the signed letter from the president to Epstein a fake.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and others posted Monday on X comparing Trump’s signature on the drawing to others from Trump over the years, highlighting differences to call the Epstein letter a forgery.

“Is this really the best they could do?” posted right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson. “Trump has the most famous signature in the world.”

Meanwhile, left-wing social media users pointed to other examples of Trump signatures that closely resembled the one on the letter, which used only Trump’s first name, Donald.

Trump has promised to step up deportations and deploy the National Guard in the nation’s third-largest city. But it’s unclear what role the new Department of Homeland Security operation called “Operation Midway Blitz” will play in it.

Adding to the confusion is a handful of immigration arrests over the weekend. U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement says it arrested four people with previous criminal arrests, but immigrant rights activists say five “beloved community members” were arrested by ICE.

Trump on Monday blamed Democrats “who refuse to put bad people in jail” for the fatal stabbing last month of a Ukrainian woman who had come to the U.S. to escape from Russia’s invasion of her home country.

The Republican president wrote in a social media post that, “LAW AND ORDER,” is needed in every state and “only Republicans will deliver it!”

Authorities say the man charged in the killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, has a history of mental illness, arrests and erratic behavior.

Trump singled out Democrat Roy Cooper, the state’s former governor and U.S. Senate candidate, and urged North Carolinians to vote for Cooper’s Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, in next year’s midterm elections.

The Supreme Court decision to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to resume roving enforcement actions threatens millions of people by emboldening agents to apprehend people “solely based on their appearance,” the head of a civil-rights group said Monday.

Voto Latino President and co-founder Maria Teresa Kumar called the decision a “direct attack on Latino and other communities of color — with nearly 130 million of nonwhite Americans now potentially being subject to the Trump Administration’s racially motivated policing.“

Latino families across the country have been living in fear, facing harassment and intimidation “simply for who they are-regardless of status,” Kumar said in a statement.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday as the U.S. steps up its military operations against drug cartels in the Caribbean.

The arrival comes more than a week after ships carrying hundreds of U.S. Marines deployed to Puerto Rico for a training exercise. It also comes nearly a week after the Trump administration said U.S. forces carried out a strike in the Caribbean, sinking a boat it claimed was from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua smuggling drugs to the U.S. The strike killed 11 people, and the American account has been questioned by Caracas.

Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González said Hegseth and Caine visited the U.S. territory to support those participating in the training.

“We thank President Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic importance of Puerto Rico to U.S. national security and for their fight against drug cartels and the narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro,” González said, referring to Venezuela’s president.

Hegseth and Caine met with officials at the 156th Wing Muñiz Air National Guard Base in Carolina, a city just east of the capital, San Juan.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has tapped Reps. Eric Swalwell, Jasmine Crockett and Jared Moskowitz to serve on a new Republican-led committee investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

All three lawmakers are known for their outspoken style, which could prove useful on a panel that Jeffries said aims to “whitewash the events of that day.”

“House Republicans are once again trying to rewrite history and corrupt our electoral system,” Jeffries said. “House Democrats will continue to forcefully and aggressively push back.”

It’s the second look-back attempt from Republicans, who also set up a committee in the last Congress that worked to reexamine the events of Jan 6.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that he didn’t mean to suggest in a recent interview that Trump had or had not been an FBI informant in the case against disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“I don’t know if I used the right word,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “I said FBI informant. I’m not sure — I wasn’t there. This isn’t my lane. I’m just repeating what is common knowledge and has been out in the public for a long time: President Trump was never a hindrance to the Epstein investigation. He was trying to assist in that.”

Johnson, a Republican, said the House Oversight Committee chaired by GOP Rep. James Comer, of Kentucky, will visit the Epstein estate to review visitor logs and other information as part of its probe.

The House Oversight Committee has obtained the “infamous ‘Birthday Book’ that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist,” the committee’s top Democrat said Monday.

“It’s time for the President to tell us the truth about what he knew and release all the Epstein files. The American people are demanding answers,” Rep. Robert Garcia, of California, said in a statement.

Democrats on the committee posted a picture on social media of an alleged birthday message Trump left for Epstein in the birthday book. Trump has strenuously denied the existence of such a page and filed a lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and its owner, the billionaire Rupert Murdoch, over a report that described such a page in detail.

“Oversight Democrats are now carefully reviewing the contents of the book and additional documents to determine the full extent of the implications, and we expect to release our findings to the public. No matter who you are, how powerful, wealthy, or well-connected you may be, if you are involved in the abuse of young women and girls, or are implicated in any of the files we receive, you will be held accountable,” Garcia wrote.

Religious leaders urged Chicago residents on Monday not to fear an expected federal intervention in the nation’s third-largest city, saying they should resist, record any interactions and rely on their faith instead.

Clergy members from several faiths spoke out Monday in downtown Chicago. Among them was Imam Gregory Abdullah Mitchell, who said people of all faiths should be united in fighting back.

The Trump administration has said it will send immigration agents and the National Guard to Chicago to crack down on immigration enforcement and crime. Details about the operation have been limited.

The president made the announcement Monday during remarks at a meeting of the White House Religious Liberty Commission. He said the Education Department will issue new guidance “protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.”

Public schools have been barred from leading students in classroom prayer since 1962, when the Supreme Court said it violated the First Amendment. But the Education Department has long promoted guidance saying students can pray together during lunch and other free times.

Trump issued revised guidance on the topic in 2020 that largely mirrored what was already on the books. Former President Joe Biden’s administration made minor changes in 2023, saying schools can take “reasonable steps” to ensure students aren’t pressured to participate in prayer.

During his campaign in 2023, Trump said he would support “bringing back prayer to our schools.”

A new Gallup poll finds that while U.S. adults overall are more likely to have a positive view of capitalism than socialism, Democrats feel differently. Only 42% of Democrats view capitalism favorably, while 66% have a positive view of socialism.

The results show a gradual but persistent shift in Democrats’ support for the two ideologies over the past 15 years, with socialism rising as capitalism falls. The shifts underscore deep divisions within the party about whether open support for socialism will hurt Democrats’ ability to reach moderates or galvanize greater support from people who are concerned about issues like the cost of living.

The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for federal agents to conduct sweeping immigration operations in Los Angeles, the latest victory for Trump’s administration at the high court.

The justices lifted a restraining order from a judge who found “roving patrols” were conducting indiscriminate arrests in LA. The order had barred agents from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location.

Trump’s Republican administration argued the order wrongly restricted agents carrying out its widespread crackdown on illegal immigration.

U.S. District Judge Maame E. Frimpong in Los Angeles had found a “mountain of evidence” that enforcement tactics were violating the Constitution. The plaintiffs included U.S. citizens swept up in immigration stops. An appeals court had left Frimpong’s ruling in place.

▶ Read more about immigration stops in Los Angeles

During the president’s speech, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner detailed plans to infuse prayer with celebrations of the United States’ 250th anniversary next year.

He said the “America Prays” initiative would try to get 1 million people a week to pray for the country.

“This about the miracles that would take place over the next year,” Turner said.

When Turner finished, Trump finished his speech and said “we will never apologize for our faith.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he’s ready to change the chamber’s rules to allow quick confirmations of dozens of Trump’s executive branch nominees, moving this week to speed up votes after months of Democratic delays.

Thune says he’ll start the process of changing the rules when the Senate goes into session Monday afternoon, with a final vote likely coming later this week.

“We must return to the Senate’s traditional confirmation process that existed before this unprecedented blockade,” Thune said in an op-ed published on Breitbart.com Monday morning.

Republicans have been talking about options for changing the rules since early August, when the Senate left for a monthlong recess after a breakdown in bipartisan negotiations over the confirmation process. Democrats have blocked nearly every single one of Trump’s nominees, forcing majority Republicans to spend valuable floor time on procedural votes and leaving many positions in the executive branch unfilled.

▶ Read more about nominations in the Senate

The U.S. Treasury Department and the State Department on Monday imposed financial and diplomatic sanctions on a network of people and firms across Myanmar and Cambodia allegedly involved in a scam center hub in Myanmar operating under the protection of the already sanctioned Karen National Army.

The network is accused of using forced labor and violence.

In Cambodia, workers are forced to carry out virtual currency investment scams against victims in the U.S., Europe and China, according to the State Department.

“These sanctions protect Americans from the pervasive threat of online scam operations by disrupting the ability of criminal networks to perpetuate industrial-scale fraud, forced labor, physical and sexual abuse, and theft of Americans’ hard-earned savings,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

The president, in a meandering speech at the Museum of the Bible, praised D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for working with the federal government on the crime crackdown in her city.

Trump noted that Bowser has been good to work with although “that’s not her ideology and now I think it maybe is her ideology.”

“She’s taking a lot of heat, too, from the radical left,” he said. “You know, they don’t like that she’s allowing it. But look, she’s going to either allow it or we’ll just do it.”

The president called the famous actor “destructive” and “WOKE.”

Hanks was scheduled to receive the 2025 Sylvanus Thayer Award on Sept. 25, but the U.S. Military Academy’s alumni association canceled the ceremony last week, according to news reports.

“Important move!” Trump said in a post on his social media network Monday. “We don’t need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!! Hopefully the Academy Awards, and other Fake Award Shows, will review their Standards and Practices in the name of Fairness and Justice.”

West Point, its alumni association and a representative for Hanks did not immediately respond to messages and calls seeking comment Monday.

It’s the latest in string of high-profile firings allowed for now at the Supreme Court.

Trump moved to fire Rebecca Slaughter in the spring, but lower courts ordered her reinstated after she sued because the law only allows commissioners to be removed for problems like misconduct or neglect of duty.

The Justice Department has argued that the FTC and other executive branch agencies are under Trump’s control and the Republican president is free to remove commissioners without cause.

▶ Read more about Trump and the Federal Trade Commission

The president says he has “personally delivered” his family Bible to the Museum of the Bible to be displayed.

The Bible was given to him by his mother and used to swear him in at both of his inaugurations, Trump said.

“It will now be displayed right in the heart of our nation’s capital, right here,” Trump said during his remarks at the museum Monday morning. “And that’s an honor.”

Speaking at the Museum of the Bible, Trump turned his attention to Washington’s most famous network of museums.

He said he had a “little problem with the Smithsonian” because he wanted “a little more positivity” about the country.

“What about the good things we’ve done?” Trump said. He’s previously complained on social media that Smithsonian museums focused too much on “how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was.”

“Big changes are being made at the Smithsonian,” he said.

The president is speaking to the Religious Liberty Commission, which he established earlier this year to advise the White House.

“America was founded on faith,” Trump said.

He added that “we’re defending our rights and restoring our identity as a nation under God.”

The federal appeals court upheld a civil jury’s finding that Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for his repeated social media attacks against the longtime advice columnist after she accused him of sexual assault.

In a ruling issued Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s appeal of the defamation award, finding the “jury’s damages awards are fair and reasonable.”

The $83.3 million defamation judgment was awarded by a civil jury over Trump’s repeated attacks on Carroll, who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a department store in the 1990s.

A separate jury also awarded Carroll in $5 million in a 2023 sexual assault and defamation verdict.

Trump’s lawyers had asked for a new trial.

▶ Read more about the defamation suit against Trump

That’s because such tough actions mean there’s no uncertainty about the Trump administration’s policies, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday.

The detention of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Korean, in the Sept. 4 raid has caused confusion, shock and a sense of betrayal among many in the U.S.-allied nation.

“This is a great opportunity for us to make sure that all companies are reassured that when you come to the United States, you’ll know what the rules of the game are,” Noem said at a meeting in London of ministers from the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing partnership focused on border security.

“We’re encouraging all companies who want to come to the United States and help our economy and employ people, that we encourage them to employ U.S. citizens and to bring people to our country that want to follow our laws and work here the right way,” she told reporters.

▶ Read more about the security meeting in Britain

The Republican administration filed its appeal Monday.

The crux of the legal fight is over nearly $5 billion in congressionally approved aid Trump last month said he wouldn’t spend, invoking disputed authority last used by a president roughly 50 years ago.

Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge last month that another $6.5 billion in aid would be spent before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled the administration’s decision to withhold the funding was likely illegal.

▶ Read more about the administration and foreign aid money

South Korea’s foreign minister departed for the U.S. on Monday to finalize steps for the return of several hundred South Korean workers detained last week in a massive immigration raid in Georgia, as the incident caused confusion, shock and a sense of betrayal among many in the U.S.-allied nation.

The Sept. 4 raid on a battery factory under construction at a sprawling Hyundai auto plant in Georgia led to the detainment of 475 workers, more than 300 them South Koreans. Some of them were shown being shackled around their hands, ankles and waists in video released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

South Korea announced Sunday the U.S. agreed to release the detained workers, saying it would send a charter plane to bring them home once final administrative steps are completed.

Trump, who earlier backed the raid, said Sunday night that the U.S. could work out an arrangement with South Korean workers to train U.S. citizens to do work such as battery and computer manufacturing.

▶ Read more about the immigration raid in Georgia

For the Chicago Police Department, the challenge is acute. The force must preserve public safety in a city already under strain while avoiding the appearance of working hand-in-hand with federal immigration authorities, a stance that could erode community trust and ignite new protests.

The same balancing act has confronted other big-city departments in recent months. Local police in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., were drawn into fraught arrangements with federal agencies that experts say left residents wary and, at times, undermined public confidence in their police.

Now, Chicago finds itself on the same path, with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker objecting to any National Guard deployment and city officials bracing for how the added federal presence could reshape the dynamic on the ground. The outcome, policing experts warn, may determine whether Chicago police can maintain credibility in immigrant communities likely to be targeted by a president determined to show force.

▶ Read more about how federal intervention could affect Chicago police

The court has blocked off four weeks for the trial of Ryan Routh, but attorneys are expecting they’ll need less time.

Jury selection is expected to take three days, with attorneys questioning three sets of 60 prospective jurors. They’re trying to find 12 jurors and four alternates. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Thursday, and prosecutors will begin their case immediately after that.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off in July on Routh’s request to represent himself but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel. Cannon confirmed during a hearing last week that Routh would be dressed in professional business attire for the trial. She also explained to Routh that he would be allowed to use a podium while speaking to the jury or questioning witnesses, but he would not have free rein of the courtroom.

▶ Read more about Ryan Routh’s trial

The Rev. Marshall Hatch urged congregants of a prominent Black church on Chicago’s West Side to carry identification, stay connected to family and protest as the city readied for an expected federal intervention.

“You need to start telling people about your whereabouts, so you don’t disappear,” Hatch said during Sunday services at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. “We’re not going to despair. We’re not going to feel threatened. We’re not going to give up and give in to fascism and authoritarianism.”

As Chicago braced for an immigration enforcement crackdown and a possible National Guard deployment, churches across the city turned up their response from the pulpit. Some worked to quell fears about detention and deportation while others addressed the looming possibility of more law enforcement on the streets of the nation’s third-largest city.

▶ Read more about Chicago’s response the Trump’s comments

National Guard troops patrolling the streets of U.S. cities. Weapons of war deployed against international gangs suspected of drug trafficking. Military bases and resources redirected to mass immigration enforcement operations.

Trump is swiftly implementing his vision of the military as an all-powerful tool for his policy goals. It’s ground presidents have hardly ever crossed outside times of war, and experts say it’s remaking the role of the most powerful military in the world and its relationship with the American public.

Yet as Trump has dramatically stepped up his use of military force, fellow Republicans in Congress — where authorization for such actions is supposed to originate — have done little but cheer him on. That’s giving the president significant leeway as he raises plans to send troops next to Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans.

▶ Read more about Republicans and Trump’s use of the military