SAUL LOEB by way of Getty Photos
Trump on Monday signed a presidential memorandum formally greenlighting a surge of federal brokers and Nationwide Guard to Memphis as he targets the town for his newest purported crackdown on crime.
“I’m signing a presidential memorandum to determine the Memphis Secure taskforce,” Trump introduced. “This taskforce might be a duplicate of our terribly profitable efforts [in D.C.]. The trouble will embrace the Nationwide Guard in addition to the FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE, Homeland Safety Investigations and the U.S. Marshals.”
“This crew will deploy the complete powers of federal regulation enforcement businesses…to revive public security and get harmful profession criminals off of our streets,” he added.
The transfer marks an enlargement of Trump’s efforts to surge federal brokers and troops to Democrat-led cities in an alleged bid to handle crime and ramp up immigration enforcement.
Trump’s determination to go to Memphis comes after Chicago leaders vehemently warned him towards making an attempt a deployment there — and is bolstered by the assist of Tennessee Gov. Invoice Lee (R), who’s stated that he backs using the state’s Nationwide Guard.
Democratic leaders within the area have burdened the necessity to handle crime, however emphasised that Trump’s use of the Nationwide Guard was solely going to make residents really feel much less secure.
According to an Axios analysis of 2024 FBI data, Memphis had one of many highest violent crime charges of any U.S. metropolis with a inhabitants of 100,000 folks or extra, although it’s seen declines of sure crimes like homicides in 2025.
Trump cited the affect of a board member of FedEx who allegedly described needing an armored automobile to drive one block within the metropolis as a think about his determination.
Memphis Mayor Paul Younger was amongst those that stated that he was “not blissful” with the president’s actions and who cited different efforts by the town that he discovered efficient at addressing crime.
“We’re going to make Memphis secure once more,” Trump claimed, including that he nonetheless meant to dispatch related deployments to different cities. “Prepare since you’re going to be doing a whole lot of different locations which are virtually as troubled.”
