Donald Trump branded 'wannabe dictator' after unhinged Apocalypse Now post

Donald Trump has been branded a "wannabe dictator" after he posted a bizarre AI-generated post on social media comparing his incoming so-called crime crackdown in Chicago to "Apocalypse Now".

The US Commander-in-Chief posted a screenshot on Truth Social today stating: "'I love the smell of deportations in the morning ...' Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR." The AI-generated image appears to parody the movie "Apocalypse Now" by placing Trump as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, one of the film's two antagonists.

The screenshot has sparked massive backlash in Chicago, with the state's governor branding the President a "wannabe dictator" as he prepares for the incoming federal crackdown.

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Responding to the post via his own social media platform, JB Pritzker, one of Trump's most strident critics, said the President was "threatening to go to war with an American city". He wrote on X: "The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.

"This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won't be intimidated by a wannabe dictator."

In a shorter but still punchy response, Illinois Democratic representative Mike Quigley said Trump had “spoken like a true tyrant” with the post. And Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson wrote in his own X post: "The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution."

"We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump." The post and reactions come after the President promised the federal government would be "going in" to Illinois' largest city.

Speaking during an event last week during which he announced US Space Command would be moving from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama, Trump finally confirmed after weeks of speculation that he planned to bring federal forces to the city. He told reporters: "We're going in. I didn't say when, we're going in."

The statement means the President is surging ahead with plans for a federal crackdown in Chicago in a bid to combat what he has claimed is out of control crime.

He was recently rebuked for conducting the same stunt in California, during which he deployed federal troops to Los Angeles in a controversial attempt to clamp down on illegal immigration. A federal court in the state ruled last week that he had violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act and illegally deployed National Guard and active-duty US Marines to Los Angeles.