President Donald Trump inadvertently chided his FBI Director, Kash Patel, during a news conference in the Oval Office about his efforts to lower crime in Chicago.
Trump's remarks came after he signed an executive order making the popular social media platform TikTok an American-owned company. A reporter asked Trump about his efforts to reduce crime by deploying the National Guard to cities like Washington, D.C., Memphis, and Chicago.
"Look, the governor of Illinois, last weekend, there were 11 murders and 38 people were shot," Trump said. "Then he gets up and says, 'This is a safe place.'"
"The reason that crime is better is because Kash [Patel] put about five months' of FBI people there to get ready for when we go in, and they've lowered it a little bit," Trump added. "I mean about 20% or 25%, which isn't good enough, but it's a good start."
Trump looked over his right shoulder at Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, both of whom attended the press conference.
"That was only put there because they're preparing for us to go in, and, by the way, they've done a good job," Trump continued.