President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding that will send the National Guard to Memphis as part of a task force to combat crime.
“This team will deploy the full powers of federal law enforcement agencies … to restore public safety and get dangerous career criminals off our streets,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “In 2024, Memphis had the highest violent crime rate, the highest property crime rate, and the third highest murder rate of any city in the nation.”
Flanked by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and the state’s U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, Trump said, “A president should have stepped up long ago and saved these cities.”
“It’s not that I wanted to do it,” Trump said. “Somebody had to do it and we’re doing it in a big way.”
The Memphis Safe Task Force will also include the FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Homeland Security; and the U.S. Marshals, according to the memorandum.
Trump said state and local officials requested federal assistance.
Memphis is known for the blues, musically and socially.