White House punches back at Chicago Mayor Johnson over reparations demands

Chicago Mayor Criticizes Trump Over “Reparations” While City Claims Crime Declines

Chicago, Oct. 10 – Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, blasted former President Donald Trump on a podcast, arguing that the Republican’s policies have favored the wealthy at the expense of Black residents and their descendants. The exchange came after Trump posted a critique of Chicago’s crime situation on his Truth Social account, prompting Johnson to take the opportunity to counter the former president’s narrative and highlight the city’s crime‑reduction achievements.

Johnson appeared on the “Native Land Pod” podcast on Sunday, hosted by Angela Rye, Bakari Sellers and former Governor Andrew Gillum. The mayor explained that public safety in Chicago now depends on a “whole‑community approach,” citing investments in mental‑behavioral health, detective training, and a Community Violence Intervention (CVI) program aimed at preventing shootings before they happen. He said the city’s crime data—available through the Chicago Police Department—shows “double‑digit” declines in violent crime since he took office in May 2023.

“Chicago has achieved historic double‑digit decreases in crime and violence in 2025, and we’re on track for even lower rates in 2026,” Johnson told the hosts. He referenced 3.8% lower homicides, 1.3% fewer shootings and a 20.9% drop in robberies compared with the same period last year.

The hosts then turned to Trump’s October 6 post on Truth Social, in which the former president accused Chicago of an “unprecedented and particularly violent crime wave” and suggested that the federal government could “extinguish it quickly and completely.” Johnson answered by accusing Trump of enriching the ultra‑rich while ignoring the “demands of those of us who are descendants of the formerly enslaved.”

“The president just released the largest upward transfer of wealth into the hands of the ultra‑rich at the expense of education, housing, health care, transportation and good‑paying jobs,” Johnson said. He added that the Trump administration had slashed the violence‑prevention budget by $800 million and cut the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) budget by 30%. Johnson claimed that the city’s police, working with the ATF, had removed nearly 9,000 illegal weapons from Chicago streets this year alone.

White House spokesperson Allison Schuster responded on Wednesday, telling reporters that government programs that “dole out money based on race are illegal.” She urged Johnson to focus on lowering Chicago’s homicide rate instead of advocating for “divisive, unconstitutional government action.” The spokesperson also reiterated the administration’s commitment to dismantling race‑based initiatives, noting that “DEI ran rampant during the Biden administration, and Americans ultimately paid the price for these destructive policies with a restricted labor pool, higher operational costs and workforce inefficiencies.”

Johnson’s own mayoral office has highlighted the city’s reparations efforts. He signed an executive order creating a 40‑member task force to address historical harms against Black Chicagoans and their ancestors, and launched the “Repair Chicago” public‑engagement initiative in March to gather lived experiences from Black residents for future equity policies. Although Johnson never used the term “reparations” during the podcast, the city’s reparations program has been a point of reference for the mayor’s criticism of Trump.

The federal government has begun to scrutinize local reparations efforts. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has signaled plans to challenge race‑conscious distribution models. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon told reporters that local officials pushing such measures were “virtue signaling” to win votes. Earlier this year, the DOJ warned officials in Buncombe County, North Carolina, that it would investigate potential civil‑rights violations if local leaders approved recommendations from a community reparations commission.

In nearby Evanston, Illinois, a first‑of‑its‑kind reparations program has distributed more than $7 million from a $20 million fund to eligible Black residents and their direct descendants for housing and home repairs. The program, funded by local taxes on recreational marijuana sales, has also cleared a second wave of funding for 44 residents in March.

As the debate over reparations and federal intervention over local programs continues, the mayor’s message to the city remains clear: crime rates are falling, and investments in community‑based prevention are paying off. Meanwhile, the White House insists that any race‑based allocation of resources is unconstitutional, and it will continue to challenge initiatives that it says violate federal law. The next few months will see whether Chicago’s crime‑reduction strategy and its reparations push can survive federal scrutiny and continue to reshape the city’s approach to public safety and equity.