Chicago mayor visits White House to meet with Trump aides

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel returned to his old stomping grounds on Monday to meet with top Trump White House officials, including senior adviser Jared Kushner and chief of staff Reince Priebus. 

White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the visit by President Obama’s former chief of staff. Emanuel was reportedly there to discuss issues related to the Windy City and to offer advice to Priebus. 

Trump has repeatedly held up Chicago as a prime example of what he sees as the ills plaguing urban areas across the country, namely violent crime and drug use. 

{mosads}Four days after taking office, the president threatened to “send in the feds” if Chicago authorities don’t bring down the city’s murder rate. 

“If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!” Trump tweeted. 

Emanuel also met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions “to discuss what might be done to combat the shootings and murders in that city and bring back proactive community policing,” according to the Justice Department.

It was the mayor’s first visit to the White House since Trump took office. 

He last met with Trump in December before he was inaugurated. Emanuel pressured Trump to keep Obama’s program shielding young people brought to the country illegally as children from deportation. 

Trump has yet to decide the future of the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Emanuel also participated in a luncheon last year for Priebus and former chiefs of staff hosted by then-Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough.