US President Donald Trump announced plans to send the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, to tackle rising crime in the Democratic-led city. He made the bold claim during a Fox News interview on Friday, saying the city’s mayor and Tennessee’s governor fully support the move.
Trump described Memphis as a “deeply troubled” place with serious crime issues. “We’re going to fix that, just like we did in Washington,” he added, referring to his recent National Guard deployment there in August to fight urban crime.
But not everyone in Memphis agrees. The city, a Democratic stronghold with a majority-Black population, has Mayor Paul Young pushing back. At a press conference, Young made it clear: “I did not ask for the National Guard, and I don’t think it’s the way to drive down crime.” Still, he promised to collaborate with the community, the governor, and federal officials to make things work.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a Democrat whose area includes Memphis, fired off a sharp response on X (formerly Twitter). “Mr. President, no one here is ‘happy.’ We’re not happy you’re militarizing Tennessee communities,” Harris wrote. He slammed the idea of “occupation, armored vehicles, semi-automatic weapons, and military personnel in fatigues” rolling into local neighborhoods.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, confirmed the deployment in a statement Friday. “I’ve been in close contact with the Administration throughout the week, and will be speaking with President Trump this afternoon to work out details of the mission,” he said.
This isn’t Trump’s first rodeo with sending troops to Democratic cities. After Washington, he’s hinted at similar actions in places like Chicago and Baltimore to combat crime. As tensions rise, Memphis residents and leaders are bracing for what comes next in this heated debate over federal intervention in local policing.
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