Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Mocks Trump with Fake Press Conference as Legal Battles Escalate [WATCH]

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker took a public swipe at President Donald Trump on Friday by releasing a fake press conference video in which he imitated the president and mocked recent executive orders.

In the video posted to X, Pritzker jokingly announced that Lake Michigan would be renamed “Lake Illinois,” delivering the statement in a manner reminiscent of Trump’s official proclamations.

“The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a great lake deserves to be named after a great state,” Pritzker said.

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“So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change.”

Pritzker’s statement was a direct parody of Trump’s recent executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

The U.S. Department of the Interior confirmed on Friday that the change had been made officially and that Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, would be reverted back to its original name, Mount McKinley.

Google stated it would update its maps to reflect the new names once the Geographic Names Information System made the changes official.

However, as of now, Google has yet to implement the Gulf of Mexico’s new name.

The Illinois governor continued his imitation by referencing Trump’s previous interest in acquiring Greenland, announcing that Illinois would be annexing Green Bay, Wisconsin, “to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic.”

“In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland… Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic,” Pritzker said.

He ended his remarks by teasing another announcement. “I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River,” he added. “God bless America and bear down.”

An important announcement from the Governor of Illinois. pic.twitter.com/irh7UtwEOe

— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) February 7, 2025

Pritzker’s joke comes at a time of increasing legal disputes between Illinois and the Trump administration, particularly over immigration policies.

Recently, the Illinois governor condemned Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, calling the move unconstitutional.

Trump, however, has stated that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee automatic citizenship to individuals born in the U.S.

Additionally, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a lawsuit against Illinois and the city of Chicago over their progressive sanctuary policies.

“Not only did we sue today the city of Chicago, we sued the state of Illinois, we sued the mayor, we sued the governor, and we sued others,” Bondi said.

The Department of Justice has placed a hold on all federal funding to sanctuary states, cities, and nonprofits, according to a memo Bondi issued on Thursday.

Bondi’s lawsuit argues that Chicago’s sanctuary laws interfere with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

“The challenged provisions of Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County law reflect their intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the lawsuit states.

Bondi stated that the legal action is necessary to restore “the integrity of the rule of law.”

As tensions between Illinois and the Trump administration escalate, Pritzker’s parody video highlights the ongoing battle between Democratic-led states and federal immigration enforcement efforts.

With lawsuits pending and federal funding at stake, the conflict between Illinois and the White House is far from over.

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