JB Pritzker Warns Of Extreme Step Trump Could Now Take To Distract From Epstein Fallout

The Illinois governor revealed his "great fear."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he’s worried about how President Donald Trump might respond to the growing controversy over documents tying him to Jeffrey Epstein.

“My great fear, of course, is that with the release of that information, which I think will be devastating for Trump, he’s going to do everything in his power to distract,” Pritzker told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday. “What does that mean? I mean, he might take us to war with Venezuela just to get a distraction in the news and take it out of the headlines.”

Pritzker, widely seen as among the top potential Democratic presidential contenders in 2028, also directed some of his sharpest criticism at members of his own party. He said the decision by seven Democratic senators and one independent to side with Republicans in a Senate vote to end the government shutdown was an “enormous mistake” that played right into Trump’s hands.

“I’ve been on team fight from the very beginning,” Pritzker said. “And I don’t appreciate when we’ve got Democrats who are caving in and doing basically what the Trump administration wants.”

Pritzker did not join calls for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to step aside, which has come from some Democrats who think he should have fought harder. “I’m not sure this is the one thing that people should focus on to put them over the edge about it,” the governor said.