Trump signs off on sending National Guard to Memphis
By: Zac Anderson
and Lucas Finton
USA Today Network
..... President Donald Trump is deploying the National Guard in Memphis, Tennessee, continuing an aggressive campaign of using military forces to fight crime.
.....
Trump earlier deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, amid strong criticism from Democrats in those areas and legal challenges. but in Memphis, Trump is targeting a Republican-controlled sate where the governor has welcomed the intervention.
..... Trump gathered Tennessee leaders and members of his administration in the Oval Office on September 15 [2025] to sing a memorandum creating the Memphis Safe Task Force he said was requested by the state's governor. The task force will include the National Guard, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other federal forces, Trump said, and is modeled on the DC operation.
.....
"We're going to make Memphis safe again,: Trump said. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, thanked Trump for committing federal resources to Memphis.
..... "We are very hopeful and excited about the prospect of moving that city forward," Lee said, adding that he's "tired of crime holding the great city of Memphis back."
.....
However, Memphis Mayor Paul Young criticized Trump's plan to deploy the Guard in his city when the president announced it last week. [09/15/2025]
..... "I do not think it's the way to drive down crime,' said Young, a Democrat.
..... Memphis, which has long struggled with crime, had the highest rates of murder and other violent crime of any large city in the country in 2024, according to a USA Today analysis of FBI data from 30 cities with more than 500,000 residents.
..... Memphis had 40.6 homicides per 100,000 people, compared to a rate of 25.6 per 100,000 in the nation's capital, which rankled fifth.
..... National Guard troops can only act as law enforcement under certain circumstances, such as when they are led by a state's governor.
..... Trump said the Tennessee National Guard would be deployed, indicating troops would be under Lee's command. the memorandum signed by Trump further said troops will be deployed "in such numbers and for such duration as the governor may deem necessary and appropriate to assist with the activities of the task force."