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By Dan Gooding and Amanda Castro
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Wednesday said that President Donald Trump is suffering from “mental health issues” and warned that the administration’s deployment of federal officers in Chicago signals a dangerous drift toward authoritarianism.
In an interview with SiriusXM host Zerlina Maxwell, the Democrat said Trump’s allies “benefit from him having those diminished capacities” and may be laying groundwork for military involvement in the 2026 midterms, comparing the moves to Germany in the 1930s.
"Everything about the constitutional democracy that was Germany at the time before Hitler took over, and it only took him 53 days to change it to something other than a constitutional republic. I've been calling this out for a long time that again, I don't think that we're headed toward a Holocaust," Pritzker said.
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"I just think it just happens to be the thing I know best because I've spent so much time with Holocaust survivors, but authoritarian regimes—read On Tyranny or some of the other books that I think everybody's reading now—about how they operate. And it really is a slow encroachment on everything that is near and dear to you."
Why It Matters
Pritzker and the Trump administration have been at loggerheads for months now, over the White House's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and detain immigrants accused of committing crimes. The Democrat has been one of the leading voices against the tactics used by Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), especially as federal agents swarmed into Chicago as part of targeted enforcement efforts.
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JB Pritzker Compares ICE Crackdown to Nazi Germany: What We Know
Pritzker appeared on SiriusXM on Wednesday morning and discussed his concerns about Trump's efforts in his state, as well as wider policy issues around the country spearheaded by the White House.
After telling Maxwell that he felt Trump's mental capacity was reduced, and that senior officials around him were not moving to help him because they benefited from the decline, Pritzker compared today's United States to Germany almost a century ago.
"For 10 years, I worked with Holocaust survivors who built a Holocaust museum, and they told me over and over, these were elderly people who'd gone through the worst things you could imagine and lived in sometimes Nazi Germany or Nazi-occupied countries in Europe, and were held in concentration camps and had their families murdered. They have been very explicit about what happened to them, and how it was kind of a slow, steady encroachment on everything that they held dear," Pritzker said.
He asked whether Maxwell could imagine leaving church, only to find federal agents there waiting to check her papers, as she shook her head. This was something unseen before in the U.S., the governor said, adding that it only happened under authoritarian regimes.
"Honestly, I'm worried for the people of Chicago, the people of the state of Illinois, and, you know, in a writ large way, the entire country, because this is not just, it's not going to end in Chicago," Pritzker added.
The remarks come just a few days after the governor floated the idea of prosecuting ICE agents after clashes between them and local protesters, while Trump has suggested he would seek Pritzker's imprisonment for standing in the way of federal immigrant enforcement.
Where Has Trump Deployed the National Guard?
The Trump administration has deployed federalized National Guard troops in Illinois, as well as in other states and cities around the country. The president has argued that this has been necessary to crack down on crime, which is out of control.
Los Angeles was the first to see such actions, followed by Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tennessee, Portland, Oregon, and then Chicago being targeted. All of these moves have been met with different reactions, with Memphis largely welcoming troops, while Portland has seen legal challenges.
What Is the Insurrection Act of 1807?
As tensions have mounted between Trump and those speaking against his moves in their jurisdictions, the president has floated the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, although Vice President JD Vance has said he would look at all options before doing so.
The Insurrection Act grants the president the power to use the military to put down a rebellion at the federal or state level. Critics say using the 1807 law would consolidate federal power and give Trump more leeway to use the military for domestic law enforcement or immigration enforcement.
Donald Trump's Health: What Did JB Pritzker Say About His Mental Capacity?
“I think the president is experiencing some deficiency of his mental capacity, and I don’t mean that in a joking way, in any way," Pritzker said Wednesday, after being asked about Trump's threats to arrest him.
The claim by Pritzker follows repeated messaging from the White House that Trump is fit and healthy, most recently after a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland last week, for what the administration said were routine tests and checks.
Trump's health has come under scrutiny in recent months, particularly in the wake of his focus on former President Joe Biden's alleged mental decline over the last years of his term.
What People Are Saying
Vice President JD Vance, speaking on NBC News Sunday: "The problem here is not the Insurrection Act or whether we actually invoke it or not. The problem is the fact that the entire media in this country, cheered on by a few far-left lunatics, have made it OK to tee off on American law enforcement. We cannot accept that in the United States of America."
Democratic strategist David Axelrod wrote in a Sunday X post: "Believe them when they tell you what they're planning, folks. Trump wanted to use American troops against Americans in his first term, and was dissuaded by responsible civilian and military leaders. No more. The guardrails are gone."
Physician to the President Sean Barbabella said in a one-page memo released by the White House on Friday: “President Donald J. Trump remains in exceptional health, exhibiting strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and physical performance.”
What Happens Next
Federal immigration enforcement continues in Chicago, with Pritzker saying he remains steadfast in his support for all those in his state.
Update 10/15/25, 12:41 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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