President Trump on Friday mentioned he plans to ship federal troops to Tennessee to “fix” the town of Memphis, very like his current crackdown on crime within the nation’s capitol.
He mentioned he additionally stays intent on placing troopers within the streets of Chicago, regardless of Democratic state and metropolis leaders asking him to abort that concept.
“Memphis is deeply troubled,” Trump mentioned. “We’re gonna fix that just like we did Washington.”
Trump didn’t say when he deliberate to have troops occupy Memphis or if there have been any authorized hurdles to clear earlier than that might occur.
In keeping with the president, native officers in Tennessee help the deployments. Nevertheless, Memphis Mayor Paul Younger, whereas admitting his metropolis has issues, mentioned he doesn’t imagine it’s an answer.
“I did not ask for the National Guard and I don’t think it’s the way to drive down crime,” Younger pushed again throughout a press convention Friday.
In the meantime, Tennessee’s Republican governor, Invoice Lee, mentioned he’s grateful for Trump’s help and was planning to talk with the president on the main points of how federal troops would work along with the FBI and native legislation enforcement businesses.
“We are working closely with the Trump administration to determine the most effective role for each of these agencies to best serve Memphians,” Lee mentioned of the multi-phased plan to fight crime.
Trump equally flexed his muscle as commander-in-chief in Washington, D.C., the place statistics confirmed crime within the district was in decline earlier than Nationwide Guard troopers have been deployed on Aug. 11.
Armed Nationwide Guard troopers from West Virginia patrol the Mall close to the Labor Division in Washington, the place a poster of President Donald Trump is displayed, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Memphis Police Division additionally claims Trump’s purported crackdown is going down throughout a interval when crime is at a 25-year low.
Final week, earlier than Trump’s unspecific plan to takeover Chicago was placed on maintain, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused the president of “threatening to go to war with an American city.”
Trump confronted much less resistance in D.C., which isn’t a state with its personal governor.
