Memphis latest city Trump is targeting for federal government actions to combat crime

By Padmananda Rama

Published September 12, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT

In this file photo from Sept. 2023, a police car in Memphis is shown on the scene of a reported carjacking. On Sept. 12, President Trump announced in an interview on "Fox & Friends" Memphis will be the next site of federal action to combat crime, following intervention in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

Updated September 12, 2025 at 2:13 PM EDT

President Trump is expanding his campaign to intervene in U.S. cities to combat what he says is out of control crime and illegal immigration to Memphis, Tenn.

Trump announced Memphis would be the next target for a federal law enforcement push.

"Memphis is that's the next city, deeply troubled," Trump said in an interview on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning. "We're going to fix that, just like we did Washington."

After placing D.C.'s police department under federal control, Trump had threatened he would take similar actions in other cities. He has the ability to do so in the nation's capital, because the Home Rule Act gives him command of D.C.'s National Guard. However, the president's ability to intervene in other cities is limited since governors control the deployment of National Guard troops in their states.

Trump said that Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee and Memphis' Democratic Mayor Paul Young supported the decision.

Young, in a statement to local news outlet WMC-TV, said that he was informed earlier in the week that the Governor and Trump were considering deploying National Guard and other resources to Memphis.

"What we need most are financial resources for intervention and prevention, additional patrol officers, and case support to strengthen MPD's investigations," Young said in the statement.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Gov. Lee said he has been in constant communication with the Trump administration to leverage state and federal resources to combat crime in Memphis.

"The next phase will include a comprehensive mission with the Tennessee National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Memphis Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies," Lee said.

Overall crime as well as burglaries, robberies and larceny are at a 25-year low, according to Memphis Police. Officials say the city has seen decreases in all major categories of crime in the first eight months of this year compared to the same time period in previous years, with murders currently at a 6-year low.