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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Trump announces he’s sending federal law enforcement to Memphis and
that Chicago is next
By Hanna Park, Adam Cancryn, Michelle Watson, CNN
Updated:
9:42 PM EDT, Mon September 15, 2025
Source: CNN
President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s taking to establish a
“Memphis Safe Task Force” aimed at leading a crime crackdown,
leaving the Tennessee city of the National Guard as his administration
intensifies its efforts to crack down on crime across the nation’s
major cities.
And after earlier focusing on Chicago – and then backing off –
Trump said he’d send a similar task force to the Windy City next,
regardless of the staunch opposition by Democrats including the
city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
The move to establish the task force in Memphis will mirror the
stepped-up law enforcement effort that the federal government oversaw
in Washington, DC.
The National Guard and law enforcement from several federal agencies
will be dispatched to Memphis, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE and
Homeland Security, Trump said.
“It’s very important because of the crime that’s going on, not
only in Memphis, in many cities,” Trump said Monday from the Oval
Office. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, he signed a presidential memorandum
creating the task force, saying it “will be a replica of our
extraordinarily successful efforts here, and you’ll see it’s a lot
of the same thing.”
Speaking to , Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Saturday he was “not
happy” about the National Guard coming, but he was looking for ways
to invest in addressing crime in the city.
The 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 Lee, have welcomed the announcement.
“Planning is currently underway, and we will continue to work closely
with federal and local partners to determine the most effective path
forward,” Elizabeth Lane Johnson, Lee’s spokesperson , according to
The Associated Press.
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 after advisers warned him that
sending in troops to help with local law enforcement from the state’s
governor could create legal headaches they want to avoid, sources
familiar with the matter told CNN.
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 several federal agencies.
While many elements of the operation are still being finalized, the
first troops had been expected to be deployed as soon as this week.
Young told CNN he expects more details this 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.
The memorandum signed by Trump does not say how many or when the troops
are expected to be deployed to the city, but in a Monday, Lee’s
office said the governor had authorized over 100 Tennessee Highway
Patrol troopers to Shelby County “to further support the mission.”
Besides Tennessee, the memorandum resources from Arkansas and
Mississippi could assist in the task force if deemed necessary.
In Chicago immigrant rights advocates have reported a recent increase
in immigration enforcement agents, heightening anxiety in communities
already concerned about the possibility of mass arrests or forceful
measures, the AP .
“We definitely feel escalated operations are already here,”
Lawrence Benito, head of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights, the AP.
‘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 US (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 .
Just days before Trump’s announcement, Memphis police had 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 Harris, 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.
State Rep. , whose district includes parts of Memphis and Shelby
County, said Monday “there is no red carpet being laid out” for the
National Guard.
“A militarized occupation of our city is not a resolution to the
problems that we have,” Pearson said at a Shelby County Democratic
Party at Memphis city hall.
“What we need is poverty eradication, not military occupation,”
Pearson said. “So don’t bring the National Guard. Give us the
resources that we need for our people, for our city, for our county.”
Young noted a previous time the National Guard was deployed to Memphis,
in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The
National Guard also was in Memphis in 1978 after Memphis police and
firefighters’ unions went on strike.
“We don’t want to invoke those same images here,” Young told CNN,
referring to the 1968 deployment.
National Guard deployments
Since deploying the National Guard to and to Washington, DC, last
month, the Trump administration has threatened to send troops to
several other Democratic-led cities like Baltimore and Portland,
Oregon.
Trump’s decision to assert federal control over Washington’s police
force and deploy the National Guard to patrol the capital and one he
claimed was necessary to fight crime. But critics have
When asked Monday if going into St. Louis was on the table, Trump
responded saying, “Yeah, we got to save St. Louis. We’ve gotta save
these cities.”
While crime has in Washington, DC, under the federal emergency, 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 . The administration said it
would appeal the decision.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the last name
of Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.
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