Trump to deploy National Guard to Memphis over crime rate
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A police officer investigates at the scene where a man was taken into custody following a series of shootings throughout the city on Sept. 7, 2022 in Memphis, Tenn. Photo: Brad Vest/Getty Images
President Trump announced Friday he's sending National Guard troops to Memphis to address the city's persistently high crime problems.
Why it matters: Trump has faced criticism for threatening to send the National Guard to blue cities in blue states while saying little about cities like Memphis with high crime rates in red states.
Driving the news: "We're going to Memphis," Trump told Fox & Friends, calling the city "deeply troubled."
- He said the deployment may go beyond the National Guard — and could include the Army if needed.
The big picture: Memphis has the highest violent crime rate of any American city with a population of 100,000 residents or more, according to an Axios analysis of 2024 FBI statistics.
- The latest numbers show Memphis had a violent crime rate of 2,501.3 per 100,000 residents last year — nearly seven times the national average.
- An Axios analysis found that Memphis also had the country's fourth-highest homicide rate of 40.6 per 100,000 residents — six times the national average.
Zoom in: Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat who ran for office on a tough-on-crime platform, told ABC24-TV in Memphis that Trump and GOP Gov. Bill Lee told him about a possible National Guard deployment.
- "We are actively discussing the next phase of our strategy to accelerate the positive momentum that's already underway, and nothing is off the table," Lee told the station.
- Tennessee Republicans — including Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Reps. Andy Ogles and Diana Harshbarger — have called for deploying the National Guard to Memphis and Nashville.
- "It is important for the long-term success in Memphis to have additional and permanent federal law enforcement officers and agents who can work in conjunction with state and local officials," Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), who represents part of Memphis, told Axios.
- "President Trump has stepped in to restore law and order in blue cities that refuse to protect their own citizens," Blackburn said in a statement.
Yes, but: In a Wednesday letter, state Rep. Torrey Harris (D) pushed back, saying the move wrongly paints Memphis as a city needing "intimidation by military force."
Caveat: Memphis, a city where 63% of residents are Black, saw a 13% drop in homicides in the first half of 2025.
- It's one of many cities with majority-Black populations that are experiencing declines in crime following the COVID crime wave, an Axios analysis found.
Zoom out: The Memphis move comes after Trump said earlier this month that he may deploy the military to New Orleans before Chicago, prioritizing cities whose leaders ask for intervention.
- He had called out several cities like Washington, D.C., with Democratic mayors for high crime rates despite early numbers showing downward trends.
- Democrats have pointed out that the U.S. Justice Department recently cut $170 million in grants for community violence intervention programs nationally.
Between the lines: Rural states in the American South and West had some of the nation's highest violent crime and homicide rates in 2024, driven by violence in small communities, according to an Axios analysis of FBI data.
- The southern states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina were among the national leaders in both violent crime and homicide rates last year, an Axios review of FBI data found.
- Alaska, the country's most rural state, led the nation with the highest violent crime rate of 1,194.3 per 100,000 residents. That's more than three times the national average of 359.1.
Go deeper: Rural South, West states have highest violent crime rates: FBI
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comment from Tennessee representatives.
