Trump Says Feds Have Been In Memphis, LA ‘For Months’
President Donald J. Trump on Saturday defended his decision to deploy federal officers and National Guard troops to Memphis, saying his administration is the only reason crime numbers have begun to decline in the embattled Tennessee city.
“The only reason crime is somewhat down in Memphis is because I deployed the FBI and federal officers months ago to address absolutely terrible crime numbers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He noted similar efforts in Chicago and Los Angeles, adding: “But the real work by us has barely begun. That happens after we make the official announcement that WE’RE COMING, and when we do that, as we did in now VERY SAFE Washington, D.C., the no crime ‘miracle’ begins. ONLY I CAN SAVE THEM!!!”
White House data shows Memphis continues to struggle with some of the worst crime in America, recording the highest violent crime rate and third-highest murder rate in 2024. Nearly 150 homicides have already occurred this year.
The move was welcomed by Tennessee Republicans. Sen. Marsha Blackburn praised Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Attorney General Pam Bondi: “Time and time again, President Trump has stepped in to restore law and order in blue cities that refuse to protect their own citizens.”
Gov. Bill Lee echoed that optimism, declaring Memphis “on a path to greatness” and vowing the state would not allow crime to hold the city back.
Local Democrat officials, however, voiced opposition. Memphis Mayor Paul Young insisted he had not requested federal forces, arguing Guard troops were “not the way to drive down crime.” Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris went further, calling the deployment “disappointing, anti-democratic and” potentially unlawful. Harris warned that in the long run, “the mark of Tennessee communities being occupied by federal forces will hurt our state’s reputation for generations.”
The pushback mirrors a legal battle brewing in California, where a federal appeals court temporarily lifted restrictions on Trump’s National Guard deployment in Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer had ruled the Guard’s participation in certain policing activities violated the 19th-century Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from domestic law enforcement.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a short order this month granting the administration’s request for an “administrative stay,” stressing the ruling was procedural and not a judgment on the merits of the case.
Government lawyers argued Breyer’s restrictions endangered public safety and interfered with the Commander in Chief’s constitutional authority. “The district court’s order impinges on the Commander in Chief’s supervision of military operations, countermands a military directive, and puts federal officers (and others) in harm’s way,” they wrote in their appeal.
Trump first deployed thousands of Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles in June after immigration-related protests spiraled into riots. While most of those forces have since returned home, about 300 remain stationed in the city.
With Memphis now under federal watch, Trump has made clear that his administration will continue to take aggressive steps to restore law and order in crime-plagued blue cities.