President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is sending National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, in order to combat crime. Trump said Tennessee’s Republican governor and the Democratic mayor of Memphis both welcomed the move.
“We’re going to Memphis,” Trump declared on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” claiming the city is “deeply troubled.”
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Earlier this year, Trump nationalized the California National Guard and sent troops, along with several hundred Marines, into Los Angeles, allegedly to protect stepped-up immigration enforcement operations and federal buildings. Later, he activated the District of Columbia National Guard to police the nation’s capital, despite data that showed a steep decrease in D.C. crime.
Trump vowed to “fix” Memphis “just like we fixed Washington,” and said that Gov. Bill Lee and Mayor Paul Young are both “happy” about the deployment.
Mayor’s statement
Memphis Mayor Paul Young said in a statement before the official announcement that he had been informed earlier this week of the potential deployment of troops.
“I am committed to working to ensure any efforts strengthen our community and build on our progress,” Young said. “We agree with Governor Lee that effective support for Memphis comes through focused initiatives that deliver results like we have seen with the FBI, state troopers, and other law enforcement partnerships. What we need most are financial resources for intervention and prevention, additional patrol officers, and case support to strengthen MPD’s investigations. Memphis is already making measurable progress in bringing down crime, and we support initiatives that help accelerate the pace of work our officers, community partners, and residents are doing every day.”
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris urged the president to reconsider the deployment of troops to Memphis earlier this week, and others have argued this isn’t a permanent solution to the crime problem in the city.
“Memphis is not ‘a troubled city,’ as President Trump has said,” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, who represents Memphis, said in a statement. “We have a crime problem.” Cohen then went on to state Memphis’ crime rate is the result of slavery, segregation and lack of investment in low-income communities.
“In the short run, the Guard can help the police in a supportive role,” Cohen said. “In the long run, Memphis needs federal dollars invested in proven programs.”
Memphis’ crime statistics
According to an Axios analysis of FBI Data, Memphis had the nation’s fourth-highest homicide rate in 2024, with 40.6 homicides per 100,000 people.
That figure was only surpassed by Jackson, Mississippi (77.8 per 100,0000), Birmingham, Alabama (58.8) and St. Louis, Missouri (54.1).
‘Preferred to go to Chicago’
Trump has suggested he would deploy the National Guard to Chicago, but has faced opposition from Illinois’s Democratic governor, JB Pritzker.
“I would have preferred to go to Chicago,” Trump said, while calling it a “hostile” place with “professional agitators.”
The president did not reveal how many troops he would be sending to Memphis, but the governor’s endorsement likely means the National Guard will be directly helping local law enforcement, according to USA Today.
