Trump Deploys National Guard to Memphis to Combat Crime

President Trump signed an order Monday sending the National Guard into Memphis to combat crime. Trump made the announcement with Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee visiting the Oval Office, calling what's coming a "replica of our extraordinarily successful efforts" in Washington. The AP describes the move as Trump's "latest test of the limits of presidential power by using military force in American cities."

• "Today, at the request of Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee, who's standing with us, as you know, I'm signing a presidential memorandum to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force," Trump said, per the Commercial Appeal. "It's very important because of the crime that's going on, not only in Memphis, in many cities. We're going to take care of all of them step-by-step."

• Trump said that in addition to troops, the push in Memphis would involve officials from various federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the US Marshals Service: "We're sending in the big force now."
• Shortly before Trump's announcement, the White House said on social media that the Memphis total crime rate was higher than the national average and suggested that the rate had increased since last year, bucking national trends. That's despite Memphis police recently reporting decreases across every major crime category in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period in previous years. Overall crime hit a 25-year low, while murder hit a six-year low, police said. Despite the overall decrease, Memphis has dealt with gun violence problems for years. In 2023, the city set a record with more than 390 homicides.
• A White House memorandum on "Restoring Law and Order" noted that according to the FBI, Memphis had the nation's highest rate of violent crime per capita last year. "The city, a beacon of American culture that was Elvis's home and is often called the birthplace of rock and roll and the blues, should be safe and secure for all of its citizens and Americans who visit its historic landmarks such as Graceland, Beale Street, and the Memphis Pyramid," the memorandum states.

• Tennessee's governor embraced the troop deployment as part of a broader law enforcement surge in Memphis. Lee said Monday that he was "tired of crime holding the great city of Memphis back."
• Trump first suggested he'd be deploying the National Guard to Memphis on Friday, drawing pushback from the Democratic leader of Memphis, which is majority Black. "I did not ask for the National Guard, and I don't think it's the way to drive down crime," Mayor Paul Young told a news conference Friday while acknowledging the city remained high on too many "bad lists."
• The first troops could be deployed as soon as this week, CNN reports. Young says he hasn't been given a date and he is still waiting for information including the number of troops and their duties.
• Speculation had centered on Chicago as Trump's next city to send in the National Guard and other federal authorities. But the administration has faced fierce resistance from Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other local authorities. Trump said Monday, "We're going to be doing Chicago probably next" but also suggested that authorities would wait and not act immediately there. "We want to save these places," Trump said. He singled out St. Louis and Baltimore, but didn't say either place would be getting federal forces or the National Guard.