Promising a “fight” to protect all Chicagoans, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday he has not reached out to the White House in the face of Republican President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats against immigrants — and Democratic officials such as Johnson himself. In an interview with the Tribune, Johnson said “no” when asked whether his team has sought a meeting with Trump’s administration about immigration actions in Chicago or other topics. The mayor also wouldn’t budge when confronted with the threat of prosecution by Trump’s Justice Department, saying his job as leader of Chicago does not change. Asked to explain his lack of outreach to the White House, the mayor said his focus remains at home. “I have a responsibility to protect the residents of the city of Chicago, and so that is my responsibility, and I’m going to do that,” the mayor said in a 15-minute interview. “We’re going to protect the working-class folks, whether you are an immigrant or whoever you are, my job is to protect working people, and that’s what I’m doing.” Johnson had told reporters last week that he is open to “a serious conversation about how we build a better, stronger, safer Chicago” with the Trump administration because he is not “mean-spirited.” Asked Thursday what changed since the inauguration, the mayor deflected. “If the Trump administration is committed to investing in public education, like we’re doing in Chicago, I’m happy to have those conversations,” Johnson said. “If the Trump administration is committed to building opportunities for more affordable homes, I’m happy to have that conversation.” The mayor’s remarks came a day after Trump’s Justice Department issued a memo ordering the investigation of state and local officials who “threaten to impede” Trump’s immigration crackdown. As a progressive freshman mayor, Johnson’s challenge now is to stand up for Chicago’s large immigrant community while also navigating the risk of antagonizing Trump, who many experts believe will have fewer guardrails during his second term. Asked whether he feared Trump retaliating against Chicago if Johnson kept up his criticism, the mayor said he wasn’t worried about “dramatic presentations that people seem to fawn over.” “That’s not grown-up leadership,” Johnson said. “Grown-up leadership is putting forth a vision for working people.” Trump’s Monday inauguration as the 47th president prompted uncertainty and fear among Chicago’s immigrant community, setting the stage for a tumultuous four years that could place the mayor of the nation’s third-largest city in the national spotlight. How Johnson meets this moment could define his political career after a bumpy first two years as mayor. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has called out Johnson directly while declaring Chicago ground zero for mass deportations. Last week, the Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids would start this past Tuesday in Chicago, though Homan appeared to walk that back after the reports, and the raids did not transpire. He also has lately offered liberal cities a choice: Cooperate with rounding up undocumented people charged with or convicted of crimes, or see federal immigration agents on the streets. Though the raids have not happened, advocates fear the churn of news from Washington, D.C., and rumor mill on potential ICE activity are already having a chilling effect on immigrant communities. Already, Trump has moved to end birthright citizenship in a controversial executive order that a federal judge suspended Thursday, citing the 14th Amendment. And he has suspended asylum and refugee protections while also announcing a joint federal and local task force to deport foreign criminal gang members and moving to withhold federal funds from local agencies that refuse to cooperate with ICE. The last move was one Trump tried during his first presidential term, when his administration threatened to withhold public safety grants from Chicago because of its long-running status as a sanctuary city. That spurred then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to successfully fight his Justice Department in court. When Trump’s new ICE director, Robert Guardian, took a shot at Chicago’s sanctuary city status after Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office, she swiftly punched back by showing up at his news conference with a group of immigration activists. Asked what his plan is to make sure Chicago holds on to federal funding, Johnson said he has had “multiple conversations” with the Illinois congressional delegation but did not elaborate on what the strategy could look like under a GOP trifecta in Washington. “We are going to fight and work hard to ensure that those federal investments that are rightfully ours — because we are taxpayers — that those investments are provided for the people of the city,” he said. “We still have a democracy. That’s how we fight. We fight within the frame of our democracy. This is not the first time that we’ve had people who oppose our values in charge.”