Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker found himself getting roasted online Tuesday after firing back at President Donald Trump with a response many critics immediately turned into a punchline.
The latest clash between Trump and the Democratic governor erupted after Trump was asked whether he planned to endorse a Republican challenger against Pritzker during remarks in Chicago.
“Mr. President, have you planned any thought into potentially endorsing someone to run against J.B. Pritzker, like Darren Bailey?” a reporter asked.
Keep Chicago out of your mouth. https://t.co/thxBAzP0E6
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) May 19, 2026
Trump answered by praising Bailey before unloading on the Illinois governor.
“Well, I like Darren Bailey. J.B. Pritzker is a slob of a governor,” Trump said. “You know, he could call me and I’d send the National Guard and Chicago would have no crime.”
Trump then pointed to what he described as dramatically improved conditions in Washington, D.C., following his administration’s crackdown on crime there.
“Did you see the crime stats?” Trump continued. “It’s down to like nothing. People go to restaurants now, new restaurants. We have a beautiful city. We have very little crime, almost no crime.”
Try keeping literally anything out of your mouth https://t.co/tVqrFeoOoh
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) May 19, 2026
According to Trump, Chicago’s problems could be fixed quickly if Pritzker simply cooperated with the White House.
“All he’d have to do is say, ‘President, I don’t want to have any crime in Chicago. Can you help me out?’ Three months. Chicago would be a different place.”
Pritzker responded on X with a short message intended as a rebuke.
“Keep Chicago out of your mouth,” the governor wrote.
The internet promptly did the opposite.
Critics instantly mocked the response, with many users reviving old jokes about Pritzker’s former weight and comparing him once again to fictional oversized villains like Jabba the Hutt and Baron Harkonnen.
Keep fried foods out of yours.
It would be one thing if your policy agenda was even remotely likely to control crime in your state’s largest city, but you’ve made clear that you’re perfectly willing to subordinate the security of Chitown’s South and West Side residents to your…
— Rafael A. Mangual (@Rafa_Mangual) May 20, 2026
The exchange is only the latest chapter in a long-running political feud between Trump and Pritzker that has escalated steadily over the past several years.
Tensions intensified sharply last October after Trump deployed roughly 300 Illinois National Guard troops into the Chicago region, prompting Pritzker to accuse the administration of carrying out what he dramatically labeled “Trump’s Invasion.”
“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion,” Pritzker declared at the time.
According to reports, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the deployment to help protect federal personnel and facilities, including ICE locations, amid concerns about escalating demonstrations and threats against federal law enforcement operations.
“It started with federal agents,” Pritzker complained then, “it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes.”
The White House defended the move as necessary to secure federal property and personnel.
Keep Chicago out of your mouth. https://t.co/thxBAzP0E6
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) May 19, 2026
Trump and Pritzker have traded insults repeatedly since Trump’s return to national politics. During the 2024 campaign, Trump blasted Illinois under Pritzker’s leadership in one of his trademark Truth Social posts.
“Sloppy J.B. Pritzker,” Trump wrote at the time, “the Rotund Governor from the once great State of Illinois, who makes Chris Christie look like a male model… has presided over the destruction and disintegration of Illinois at levels never seen before in any State.”
Trump also accused Pritzker of overseeing rampant crime and driving residents out of Illinois.
“Unless a change is made at the Governor’s level,” Trump concluded, “Illinois can never be Great Again.”
