Trump Rips Chicago (Again) In Latest Spin On Magic Cop Who Can Fix Crime In 'Days' [Updated]

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jul 28, 2017 8:40PM

Getty Images / Photo: Chip Somodevilla

For the second time in four days, President Donald Trump has pitched his go-to Chicago-jab rhetorical question to a large audience. "What the hell is going on in Chicago?" Trump asked at a speech to law enforcement in Long Island on Friday. He also put a new spin on his old solve-Chicago's-crime-in-a-week tale.

Trump was in the New York suburb to deliver a fever-pitched speech about law and order and immigration that railed against the MS-13, an LA-based gang with connections to El Salvador and Honduras.

"Maybe I should send you guys to Chicago," Trump added to the officers at Suffolk County Community College, according to a tweet from Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale.

Trump then apparently revisited his fuzzy anecdote from last year about an unnamed Chicago police official that, according to the president, told him violence could be stopped in one week—although that timeline was shortened to just "a few days" in Friday's re-telling, according to Dale's tweets. Then-candidate Trump in August told Bill O'Reilly that he had met with "very top police" and that unspecified "tough police tactics" were the key.

Trump said the mystery man—"a rough cookie"-was an officer in a motorcycle detail, according to a transcript:

"But this one guy was impressive. He was a rough cookie and really respected guy. I could see he was respected. And he said, “All right, come on, get over here. Get over here. He’s got to get to work. Get over here.” And I said, “So let me tell — you’re from Chicago?” “Yes, sir.” I said, “What the hell is going on?” And he said, “It’s a problem; it can be straightened out.” I said, “How long would it take you to straighten out this problem?” He said, “If you gave me the authority, a couple of days.” (Laughter.) I really mean it. I said, “You really think so?” He said, “A couple of days. We know all the bad ones. We know them all.” And he said, the officers — you guys, you know all the bad ones in your area. You know them by their names. He said, “We know them all. A couple of days.”

Trump said he got the officer's card and delivered it to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and "never heard" back. (Mayoral spokesman Adam Collins told the Tribune no such exchange ever happened.)

Trump has wondered aloud about what the hell is going on here on several occasions. We got the presidential dump last Tuesday, when Trump asked the question at a campaign-style event in Youngstown, Ohio. "Better tell that mayor to get tough because it's not working what they're doing," he added. (Rahm's retort: "It's not about being tough; it's about being smart and strategic.") Before that, Trump flogged his favorite diss question at a rally on June 21, again according to Dale, resident scrivener of executive Chicago bashings.

Assorted digs at Chicago from president and the Trump White House extend far back from there.

You can find detailed coverage of the speech here. "We will find you, we will arrest you, we will jail you and we will deport you," he said, referring to undocumented immigrants, according to the Washington Post. He seemed to call for rougher handling of suspects by police, conjuring up memories of the late Freddie Gray, according to the AP.

This post has been updated.