Trump sending National Guard to Memphis in next deployment

Hadriana Lowenkron, Josh Wingrove, Georgia Hall, Bloomberg News on Sep 12, 2025

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President Donald Trump said he plans to deploy the National Guard to Memphis in the latest escalation of his administration’s efforts to crack down on what it casts as rampant crime in Democratic-run cities.

“We’re going to Memphis,” Trump said Friday morning in an interview with Fox News, adding that the city was “deeply troubled.”

The president said the deployment would include “National Guard and anyone else we need.” Hours after he spoke, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said the “comprehensive mission” would encompass the National Guard, FBI, state highway patrol, Memphis Police Department and other law enforcement agencies.

“We’re going to straighten out the crime of these cities,” Trump said.

The new deployment offers the latest example of how Trump is turning to the military to help with policies including domestic security and is likely to expand a legal fight playing out in the courts over his powers. By sending troops to Tennessee, which has a Republican governor, Trump would tap a locale where he can potentially expect more cooperation from state and local authorities, in contrast with the bitter opposition he recently faced from Democrats in Illinois.

Tennessee’s Lee cited an ongoing operation in Memphis involving the FBI and said he would discuss planning for the next steps with Trump on Friday afternoon.

Memphis recorded the fourth-highest homicide rate of any US city with a population of at least 100,000 last year, according to FBI data.

Trump said Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, was “happy” about the deployment. Young said Friday afternoon that he didn’t support the initiative but wouldn’t attempt to stop it.

“I did not ask for the National Guard and I don’t think it’s the way to drive down crime,” Young said at a news conference. “However, that decision has been made. And as mayor of the city that I love, of Memphis Tennessee, my commitment is to make sure we work strategically to ensure that this happens in a way that truly benefits and strengthens our community.”

But Lee Harris, the Democratic mayor of Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said he opposed a National Guard deployment.

“People are worried about the state of our democracy and realize this is a turning point to have folks on the street with armored vehicles, military fatigues and semi-automatic weapons,” Harris said in an interview Friday. “Our crime will never be at zero because unfortunately Tennessee has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country.”

The Memphis planning follows Trump’s earlier decision to place the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, under federal control and order about 2,000 National Guard troops into the nation’s capital.

The president has touted the operation as a success, claiming that crime in Washington has tumbled and noting that it enjoyed a stretch without any murders. While crime surged in Washington after the coronovirus pandemic, Justice Department data released in January showed violent crime in the city plunging to a 30-year-low.

Earlier this year, Trump deployed the National Guard to quell protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom. A US district court judge on Sept. 2 ruled that the deployment violated federal law and issued an order barring the use of military troops in California “to execute the laws.”

Still, the president had been stepping up his criticism of other cities, including Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore and San Francisco, claiming that they were beset by lawlessness and disorder, as he looked to expand federal deployments beyond Washington.

Trump continued to assail Chicago and said he would have preferred to go into that city, where his efforts have drawn staunch opposition from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Federal officials in recent days have intensified an immigration crackdown there.

As for Memphis, Trump said he had discussed the potential deployment with Jim Vena, the chief executive officer of Union Pacific Corp. and a former board member of FedEx Corp., which is headquartered in the city.

“He said, ‘When I walk one block to my hotel, they won’t allow me to do it. They put me in an armored vehicle with bulletproof glass to take me one block,’” Trump said.