Trump loves calling out the press. He knows how much they need to be humbled.
And Donald Trump put an NBC reporter in their place with this humiliating rebuke.
President Trump once again showed his no-nonsense style on Sunday, putting a pushy reporter in her place after she tried to twist his words into some wild accusation about waging war on Chicago. The city, drowning in crime under Democrat leadership, has been in Trump’s crosshairs, and he wasn’t about to let fake news spin his tough stance.
The exchange kicked off when NBC’s Yamiche Alcindor, known for her past run-ins with Trump, lobbed a loaded question: “Are you trying to go to war with Chicago?” It was a clear attempt to paint him as extreme, but Trump saw right through it.
He responded with his signature flair: “When you say that, darling, that’s fake news,” keeping his cool at first while chatting with reporters before heading to the US Open in New York.
But when Alcindor tried to jump in again, Trump shut it down fast. “Be quiet, listen!” he commanded, not mincing words. “You don’t listen! You never listen. That’s why you’re second-rate. We’re not going to war, we’re gonna clean up our cities. We’re gonna clean them up, so they don’t k*ll five people every weekend. That’s not war, that’s common sense.”
.@POTUS BODIES @Yamiche for asking if we're "going to war with Chicago":
"You never listen. That's why you're second-rate. We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our cities… so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense." 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SJluB8lbyX
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 7, 2025
This all stemmed from a bold meme Trump dropped on Truth Social the day before, taking a swipe at the chaos in Democrat-run Chicago. It included the line, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning.”
Then came the punch: “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
Just last Friday, Trump made it official by signing an executive order to bring back the old-school name for the Department of Defense—the Department of War, harking back to before World War II. It’s a move that screams strength and reminds everyone what America’s military is really about: winning.
For a while, Trump has been hinting at unleashing the National Guard on Chicago to crush the skyrocketing crime, much like he did in Washington, D.C. There, he didn’t stop at the Guard—he seized control of the Metropolitan Police Department last month, and the results speak for themselves.
Crime in D.C. has plummeted since Trump’s intervention, with arrests soaring and streets getting safer. The administration is holding this up as the blueprint for saving other crumbling urban areas from liberal neglect.
Trump isn’t stopping at Chicago, either. He’s eyeing Baltimore and New Orleans, cities where m*rder rates outpace even the Windy City’s bloodshed, though Chicago racks up more total k*llings.
Legal hurdles loom, though, with questions about whether Trump can roll in the National Guard without buy-in from state governors. Illinois and Maryland are in the grips of Democrats, some of whom are eyeing 2028 runs, while Louisiana’s got a Republican at the helm.
That Democrat resistance could complicate things, but Trump’s not one to back down from a fight for law and order. Earlier in September, a federal judge slapped him with a ruling saying the L.A. National Guard deployment amid riots crossed a line.
During Sunday’s press gaggle, another reporter pressed Trump on why Chicago gets the spotlight when other spots are just as bad, if not worse. Trump fired back with hard facts: “Excuse me, do you know how many people were k*lled in Chicago last weekend?” he asked.
“Eight. Do you know many people who were k*lled, were k*lled in Chicago the week before? Seven.”
He didn’t stop there: “Do you how many were wounded? Seventy-four people were wounded. You think there’s worse than that? I don’t think so.” It’s the kind of straight talk that cuts through the media’s excuses for failed blue-city policies.
As for when Trump might act on Chicago, the exact schedule remains under wraps, but the urgency is clear. With bodies piling up weekend after weekend, Americans are demanding action, and Trump’s team is touting the D.C. turnaround as proof that strong leadership works.
