To Attorney General Kwame Raoul, the legal war against President Donald Trump is personal.

Raoul is a Chicago native born to Haitian immigrants, making him a self-described “birthright baby.”

He’s also a prostate cancer survivor who lost his father to the disease and now is watching Trump slash the federal budget and lay off staffers at the National Institutes of Health, one of the largest funders of cancer research.

“I’d be lying to you if I told you this is not scary to me,” Raoul said in an interview. ".That this does not hit me emotionally. That it’s not personal to me. Our very first lawsuit, birthright citizenship. I’m a birthright baby, right? My mom was not yet naturalized when I was born. I’m a cancer survivor. I’m a prostate cancer survivor. I was very public when I was diagnosed partially because it was therapeutic to me while I was going through it.”

Raoul recently lost a close friend, Matt Jones, to glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain cancer. Jones worked for the Office of the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor and had been undergoing an experimental treatment at Northwestern.

“This lawsuit with regards to NIH, they’re trying to cap the indirect costs for NIH’s funding of cancer research,” Raoul said. “It’s not just another lawsuit just to fight the Trump administration. It’s really personal. So it does hit me. Some more than others emotionally. I’ve been one to just wear my emotions publicly and just suffer whatever the consequence that is. But we’re all human beings, right?”

Raoul, 60, started his career as a senior staff attorney for the City Colleges of Chicago, then was a prosecutor with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He was a state senator for 14 years, initially appointed to fill the seat left open when Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, and then was elected attorney general in 2018.

Now, he’s a key figure in Democrats’ legal battle against Trump’s executive orders and policies. In November, the Democratic Attorney Generals Association elected Raoul a co-chair of the coalition that’s leading coordinated efforts against Trump’s actions.

This month, Raoul led a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a friend-of-the-court brief supporting a legal challenge to two Trump executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, and another suit accusing the Trump administration of attempting to “illegally” coerce states into sweeping immigration enforcement by threatening to withhold billions in federal funding for emergency services and infrastructure.

He has been part of more than 20 suits and filings aimed at blocking executive orders and policies since Trump took office in January. Raoul was among four attorneys general who filed a suit challenging Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order.

“We are winning,” Raoul said. “Not every aspect and not every lawsuit, but overwhelmingly we are successful. And what winning looks like is having the spigot of funding reopened where there have been efforts to freeze funding or condition funding.”

Raoul also points to Republican-appointed federal judges blasting Trump’s actions as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge John Bates, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, ordered the administration to restore public health websites that were taken down after Trump decreed the federal government would only recognize “two sexes, male and female.”

In February, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, became the second federal judge to issue a nationwide injunction to block the Trump administration from moving forward on the president’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship. Coughenour called the executive order “blatantly unconstitutional.”

“These are judges that apparently did take civics, did watch ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ when they were younger and understand that there’s an obligation to follow the Constitution,” Raoul said.

‘Unlawful actions’

In an interview in Springfield, the attorney general brought a stapled list of all his Trump-related cases.

“It’s more like a Teddy bear, making me feel more confident,” Raoul said with a laugh.

Raoul said he’s gotten thank-you notes and cards but also hate mail from “people not understanding the why,” he says.

“The lawsuits are filed because they are unlawful actions, because the way he tries to pursue these things are either unconstitutional or violative of a law in some other way, not filed because I disagree with the policy,” Raoul said.

The frequent filings by Democratic attorneys general have created a bond among the group. In frequent Zooms and phone calls, they debate issues in a sometimes “tense” fashion, according to Raoul, who co-chairs a working group on DEI matters.

“It’s hefty matters that we’re discussing, and so there’s disagreement sometimes as to how and when or if to proceed with something,” he said. “We try to keep it together as much as possible.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called Raoul “innovative, creative and a leader among attorneys general” and lauded him for “his reserved calm in difficult moments.”

Sean Rankin, president of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, called Raoul a “forceful, strategic and impressive leader” and credited him for leading Black men at a rally last year to support then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

“He grew into a national voice in that moment,” Rankin said.

Raoul seeking more funds

Raoul’s spotlight on the Trump administration lawsuits has brought out critics. State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, has said Raoul’s leading role is “doing Gov. [JB] Pritzker’s political bidding.”

Raoul denies that.

Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said Raoul “has demonstrated strong leadership of a completely independent office.”

President Donald Trump signing executive orders.

Elik, who is an assistant House Republican leader, has proposed legislation to require transparency about the cost of lawsuits coming out of the attorney general’s office.

“I’d be eager to see exactly how many millions of dollars are being wasted on these political lawsuits,” Elik said. “We’re looking for places to cut after all, and that seems like a great start.”

The opposite is likely to happen, with Raoul asking for more funding in this year’s state budget. He said it’s needed as federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Education and Department of Justice, retreat under the Trump administration.

“Ideologically, there’s going to be a departure from a feeling that consumers ought to be protected at a federal level,” Raoul said. “What that means is there’s going to be increased burden on the state agency level. And one of the critical state agencies in that fight to protect consumers are offices of attorneys general.

“We’re going to need more lawyers, not just for short-term federal economy litigation.”

‘If we all stand solid, he will be beaten back’

Raoul, who is an attorney, also is fuming about Trump targeting law firms. He’s even more upset about what he sees as law firms “capitulating.”

Nine prominent firms have made deals with Trump amid executive orders that targeted the president’s political and legal adversaries. By agreeing to millions of dollars in pro bono work benefiting the administration, those nine firms have so far avoided retribution.

“These threats to these law firms are something that I think all Americans should be concerned about in a very, very serious way because it undermines advocacy,” Raoul said. “The same way that we, as attorneys general, are able to bring these lawsuits and effectively bring them, there are private actors, sometimes represented by law firms, that are doing these in cases where we don’t have standing.

“I think it’s better if we could all stand solid as a legal community, knowing that that is absolutely wrong. And, if we all stand solid, he will be beaten back.”

He said he poached a law student from Kirkland & Ellis who “demonstrated courage” in telling the firm he wouldn’t work there after it made a deal with Trump.

“I think people like that should be lifted up for demonstrating their courage and demonstrating a willingness to fight for the profession,” Raoul said. “If that all is compromised by this revenge, this retribution that’s coming from the president of the United States, that is very, very dangerous.”

Raoul to seek reelection

Though Raoul said he thought about running to succeed U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, he said he plans to run for reelection in 2026.

“The notion of me going back and forth to Washington, D.C., and living in a some dorm room or small apartment somewhere and being only able to just give a speech instead of filing a lawsuit — why would I leave this at this time to go do that?” Raoul said. “I’m blessed to be in this. There’s a reason why Lisa [Madigan], my predecessor, served four terms. This is a hell of a job to have.”