A leading Democrat has compared Donald Trump to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin after the US president told military leaders on Tuesday that the armed forces should use US cities as “training grounds”.JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, which is bracing for Trump to deploy national guard troops to his state, questioned the president’s mental health and accused him of behaving like an autocrat.“It appears that Donald Trump not only has dementia set in but he’s copying tactics of Vladimir Putin,” Pritzker said. “Sending troops into cities, thinking that that’s some sort of proving ground for war, or that indeed there’s some sort of internal war going on in the United States is just, frankly, inane and I’m concerned for his health.”Since returning to office in January, Trump has used crime and illegal immigration as a pretext to expand federal agents and national guard troops into cities led by Democrats, often with big African American populations.The president deployed in Los Angeles in June and Washington DC in August despite the objections of local officials and official figures showing that crime is falling. And over the weekend Trump announced plans to send national guard troops to what he described as “war ravaged” Portland, Oregon, though the city and state are seeking a restraining order, claiming that the president has overstepped his legal authority.On Tuesday, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said a federal taskforce operation in Memphis, Tennessee is under way.