US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, calling the Democratic-run Midwestern city a hellhole plagued by gun violence. He denied accusations that his anti-crime campaign targets cities run by political opponents.

US PresidentDonaldTrumpsaid Tuesday that he will deploy National Guard troops toChicago, calling the Democratic-run midwestern city a "hellhole" ravaged by gun crime.

"We're going in," the Republican president told reporters, while hinting that he would also send soldiers to Baltimore, another Democratic-run city.

Trumpdenied charges he is strictly targeting cities run by his political opponents for his anti-crime campaign and his crackdown on undocumented migrants.

"I have an obligation," he said, citingChicagocrime statistics. "This isn't a political thing. I have an obligation when 20 people are killed over the last two and a half weeks and 75 are shot with bullets."

Trump, who already sent National Guard troops into the streets ofDemocratic-run Washington last month, declined to say exactly when he would send soldiers toChicago, where the Democratic state governor and mayor strongly oppose the plan.

"Chicagois a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now,"Trumpsaid.

Read more'Absolutely no need' to send National Guard to DC or LA, historian says

Posting earlier on his Truth Social platform, the Republican president said he "will solve the crime problem (inChicago) fast,just like I did in (Washington)."

"Chicagois the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far," he said, adding that JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of the state of Illinois whereChicagois located, "needs help badly, he just doesn't know it yet."

Trumpfollowed up with a provocative, all-caps post: "CHICAGOIS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!"

Pritzker has clashed withTrumpover the deployment, accusing the president of preparing "an invasion."

"Chicagodoes not want troops on our streets," the Democratic governor said at a press conference on Tuesday.

"Crime is down inChicago. Murders are down by almost 50 percent in the last four years," he said.

"None of this is about fighting crime or makingChicagosafer," Pritzker added. "ForTrump, it's about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption."

Read moreTrump deploys National Guard and federalises DC police over crime despite falling rates

President as police chief?

Trumpordered the deployment of the National Guard into Washington in August, and repeated his claims on Tuesday that it has improved city safety.

"It's now a safe zone," he said. "We have no crime."

Thousands of National Guard troops and US Marines were deployed to Los Angeles in June to assist police as they cracked down on protests and unrest in the California city overTrump's sweeps for undocumented migrants.

On Tuesday, a federal judge declared thatTrumpeffectively violated the law when he used troops in Democratic-run Los Angeles, and barred National Guard reservists or Marines from performing police functions including arrests or searches and seizures.

District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco warned in his ruling thatTrumpappears intent on "creating a national police force with the President as its chief."

Breyer's injunction, however, would only come into force on September 12, potentially leaving an opening for the conservative-majority Supreme Court to rule on the case.

Protesters marched through parts ofChicagoon Monday in a "Workers over Billionaires" rally that also saw people vocalise their opposition toTrumpsending troops into the city.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Originally published on France24