President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would at some point deploy the National Guard to Chicago in an effort to stem violent crime, escalating a confrontation with local officials who have warned him not to intervene.

“We’re going in,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he had decided to send troops to the nation’s third-largest city. “I didn’t say when.”

The President’s declaration followed days of sharp rhetoric aimed at Chicago and its Democratic leadership. In a string of social media posts Tuesday, he described the city as the “MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!” while insisting he could “solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in D.C.” He cited shootings over the Labor Day weekend that left at least eight people dead and dozens more wounded.

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