What we know about Trump’s push to send the National Guard to Memphis

By Hanna Park, CNN

(CNN) — Memphis is bracing for the potential arrival of the National Guard as President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies its efforts to crack down on crime across the nation’s major cities.

“We’re going to Memphis,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” in an interview Friday, calling the Democratic-led city “deeply troubled” and “we’re going to fix that just like we did Washington.”

Speaking to CNN, Mayor Paul Young said Saturday he was “not happy” about the National Guard potentially coming to his city, but that he was looking for ways to invest in addressing crime in the city.

The potential deployment is part of Trump’s broader effort to expand his anti-crime push nationwide and would mark the first such effort in a Republican state, at a time when the president has faced increasing scrutiny for his targeting of Democratic-led cities.

Tennessee Republicans, including Gov. Bill Lee, have welcomed the announcement, with Lee saying Friday he had been in touch with Trump to develop a plan to fight crime in the city.

While no specific details about the Memphis deployment have been announced, here’s what we know so far about the potential deployment:

Trump turns his sights on Memphis

The announcement to deploy troops to Memphis comes after weeks of speculation that Chicago was the next city to be targeted by the Trump administration. But Trump’s plans were shelved after advisers warned him that sending in troops to help with local law enforcement without buy-in from the state’s governor could create legal headaches they want to avoid, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

While he has privately argued he has the power to send the National Guard where he wants, Trump is instead setting his sights on Memphis, where the state’s Republican leadership is willing to accept federal help, the sources said.

Mayor Young said Trump’s televised announcement on Fox News was the first definitive confirmation he heard of the plans to deploy the National Guard to his city.

Young told CNN that he learned the idea was under consideration when Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s office informed him earlier in the week. The Democratic mayor said he had been talking with the governor’s office about the possibility of getting more law enforcement presence through the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The details were expected to be formally announced on Monday, but the president chose to publicize the initiative on Friday morning. While many elements of the operation are still being finalized, the first troops could be deployed as early as this week.

The Trump administration’s Memphis plans will mirror their DC crackdown, including forming a task force with local law enforcement, sources said. Unlike blue states, DC’s status as a federal district allows the administration to more easily secure cooperation from the city’s Democratic mayor.

Young told CNN he expects more details next week, including the number of troops, their arrival date and their duties. He suggested the guard might assist with traffic control for major events, monitoring surveillance cameras, or neighborhood “beautification” efforts.

Last week, Young briefed city council members and held a conference call with business leaders to prepare for the guard’s potential arrival, CNN affiliate WATN reported.

‘It’s about crime’

A White House official said the president’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to Memphis was about crime.

“In 2024 Memphis had the highest violent crime rate, highest property crime rate, and third highest murder rate in the U.S. (Trump) wants to make all cities in America safe again and it’s great that local officials in Memphis are welcoming his help,” the White House official said.

Just days before Trump’s announcement, Memphis police had reported significant progress, with drops in every major crime category in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in previous years. Overall crime hit a 25-year low, and murder a six-year low, police said.

Local leaders have urged the governor to reconsider the president’s push to send National Guard troops to the city. Lee Haris, the mayor of Shelby County – where Memphis is located – called the deployment a threat to democracy and city councilmembers have called for restored federal funding for violence-prevention programs instead of a military presence.

Young also acknowledged the community concerns, noting that the National Guard was last deployed to Memphis in 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

“We don’t want to invoke those same images here,” Young told CNN.

National Guard deployments

Since deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, the Trump administration has threatened to send troops to several other Democratic-led cities like Baltimore and Portland.

Trump’s decision to assert federal control over Washington’s police force and deploy the National Guard to patrol the capital marked an unprecedented move and one he claimed was necessary to fight crime. But critics have called it a “dangerous power grab.”

While crime has decreased in Washington, DC, under the federal emergency, it’s not true that there’s “no crime,” as Trump has often repeated.

The president’s authority over DC’s National Guard and police stems from the city’s federal status, but his power doesn’t extend to states.

Trump’s earlier attempts to deploy the National Guard have faced legal challenges. In June, he sent 2,000 California Guard troops to Los Angeles against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s will, citing protests against aggressive immigration raids.

Newsom took the decision to court, where a federal judge ruled the deployment was illegal. The administration said it would appeal the decision.

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CNN’s Donald Judd, Betsy Klein, Chris Isidore, Marshall Cohen, Wesley Bruer, Jason Morris and Andy Rose contributed to this report.