U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to deploy the National Guard to Memphis, marking a sharp escalation in his administration’s ongoing crackdown on crime in Democrat-led cities. Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump described Memphis as “deeply troubled” and said federal forces would restore order.
According to the president, the move has the backing of Memphis mayor Paul Young, a Democrat. Trump stated that the deployment would involve National Guard troops “and anyone else we need,” adding that the military could also be called in if necessary. “We’re going to straighten out the crime of these cities,” he said.
The Memphis operation follows Trump’s recent moves to expand federal authority over local policing, including placing Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department under federal control, sending 2,000 National Guard troops into the capital, and deploying troops to Los Angeles to support immigration enforcement. The latest decision is expected to intensify debates over federal intervention in local law enforcement.