NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he’ll send the National Guard to address crime concerns in Memphis with support from the mayor and Tennessee’s governor, his latest test of the limits of presidential power by using military force in American cities.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump said “the mayor is happy” and “the governor is happy” about the pending deployment. The city is “deeply troubled,” he said, adding, “we’re going to fix that just like we did Washington,” where he’s sent the National Guard and surged federal law enforcement.
Memphis is a majority-Black city, and the Democratic mayor was expected to hold a news conference Friday afternoon.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, confirmed the deployment was coming and said he planned to speak with the president Friday to work out details of the mission. He said he was still ironing out the best roles for the National Guard alongside the FBI, the state Highway Patrol, city police and other law enforcement agencies.
“I’m grateful for the President’s unwavering support and commitment to providing every resource necessary to serve Memphians,” Lee said in a statement. “Memphis remains on a path to greatness, and we are not going to let anything hold them back.”
The governor’s embrace of Trump’s use of the military stood in sharp contrast to Democratic governors in states like California and Illinois, who argue similar deployments undermine local authority and inflame tensions. The president has also suggested he could send troops to New Orleans, another majority-Black city led by Democrats in a Republican-leaning state.
