CHICAGO (CBS) — Shortly after President Donald Trump suggested it would be a good idea to sit down with Chicago gang leaders, and again said he might have to take matters into his own hands to address violent crime in the city, Mayor Rahm Emanuel essentially told the new president to put his money where his mouth is.
At a Black History Month meeting at the White House, an Ohio pastor said "some of the top gang thugs in Chicago" reached out to him for a "sit-down" to figure out how to "lower that body count" in exchange for social programs.
"I think that's a great idea, because Chicago is totally out of control," Trump said.
The president also doubled down on his threats to "send in the feds" to fix Chicago's crime problems.
"If they're not going to solve the problem — and what you're doing is the right thing — then we're going to solve the problem for them, because we're going to have to do something about Chicago, because what's happening in Chicago should not be happening in this country," Trump added.
Mayor Emanuel said Trump should stop talking about crime in Chicago, and actually provide more federal resources for the city.
"Send more FBI, DEA, ATF agents. We don't have to talk about it anymore. Just send them," the mayor said Wednesday while meeting with young men taking part in the Becoming A Man mentoring program
