President Trump announced on Friday his intention to send the National Guard to Memphis, adding it to the list of cities targeted in his crime reduction efforts.
“We’re going to Memphis,” Trump stated. “We will fix it, as we did with Washington.”
Trump described Memphis as “deeply troubled,” and claimed the Democratic mayor and Republican governor were in agreement with his decision. He indicated his administration would deploy National Guard troops and “anybody else we need” to the city.
“We’ll bring in the military too if we need it,” Trump added.
In 2024, Memphis reportedly had the highest rates of both murder and violent crime compared to other major cities in the U.S., according to a . However, the Memphis Police Department stated this week that overall crime in the city is at a 25-year low this year. The police also reported that robbery, burglary, and larceny are at 25-year lows, while murder is at a six-year low.
Last month, Trump the D.C. police department and deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., citing violent crime as his reasoning, despite data indicating violent crime in the capital was . His 30-day control of the city’s police force Wednesday night, but National Guard troops are expected to remain in D.C. until the end of November.
Earlier in the summer, the President the National Guard to Los Angeles to control protests over immigration raids, even though the city’s mayor and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, opposed the move. Trump has his desire to deploy National Guard troops to other major cities he considers to have crime issues, including , New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Oakland, and .
While most cities Trump has suggested sending troops to are in states run by Democrats, Memphis and New Orleans are in states with Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures, although both cities have Democratic mayors. After Trump began his crackdown in D.C. last month, both and sent National Guard troops to assist.
Announcing his plan to send troops to Memphis on Friday, Trump said he “would’ve preferred going to Chicago.” In August, Trump that Chicago was likely the “next” city his administration would target. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, opposed the idea, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, city departments to not cooperate if troops were deployed. Trump criticized local officials, and that his Administration was “going to do it anyway.”
Trump did not specify which law he would use to send troops to Memphis. A federal judge earlier in September that the National Guard’s deployment in Los Angeles this summer was unlawful due to their involvement in civil law enforcement.
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