Trump says he’s targeting Memphis in crime crackdown

By Donald Judd, Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration would target Memphis as part of his efforts to crack down on crime across the nation’s major cities.

“I’ll be the first to say it right now, again, we’re going to Memphis,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” in an interview.

“Memphis is — that’s the next thing, deeply troubled, and the mayor is happy, he’s a Democrat mayor, the mayor is happy. And the governor, Tennessee, the governor is happy. … We’re going to fix that just like we did Washington.”

CNN has reached out to Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

“I’m just announcing that now, and we’ll straighten that out, National Guard and anybody else we need,” Trump said. “And by the way, we’ll bring in the military too if we need it, but National Guard, but Memphis is, look, it’s a great, music city.”

Trump had previously threatened to send troops to Chicago, and also wrote in a Truth Social post that said that city is “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” But while the Department of Homeland Security has announced an immigration crackdown in that city, the mobilization of troops promised by Trump has not materialized.

In Memphis, a blue city in a state that is governed by a Republican, Trump is likely to find state officials that are more receptive to his efforts to mobilize the National Guard and other resources.

After the Trump administration federalized the Washington, DC, police department and surged federal law enforcement and troops across the nation’s capital last month, crime in the city is down and hundreds of people accused of being in the US illegally have been detained. But tourism numbers have also declined, and some restaurants in the city are hurting for customers, CNN has previously reported.

Trump’s emergency order which enabled him to take over Washington, DC’s police department expired earlier this week, though members of the National Guard are expected to remain in the city, along with a surge of federal law enforcement officers who have been seen patrolling highly touristed areas in the city.

Tennessee was among the states to send members of their National Guard to DC although it is unclear whether those troops will now be removed to patrol their own state.

Local officials in Washington, DC, had suggested the government’s efforts were focused on arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants and clearing homeless encampments.

Trump previewed earlier this week that he’d announce the next city his administration was targeting by the end of the week, telling reporters ahead of a dinner in DC on Tuesday, “We’re working it out.”

“We’ll be announcing another city that we’re going to very shortly — we’re working it out,” Trump said. “The governor of a certain state would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state would love us to be there. We’ll announce it probably tomorrow, and it’s going to be something where we’ll do like we did here.”

Trump says CEO called for crackdown

Trump credited someone unexpected for his desire to send National Guard troops to Memphis: Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena.

Vena, Trump told Fox News on Friday, asked that National Guard troops be sent to Chicago, St. Louis and Memphis when he met with Trump seeking approval of his deal to buy Norfolk Southern.

According to Trump, the president was meeting with Vena because “they’re doing a merger, and he wanted to come see me and all that stuff.” And Trump said Vena mentioned the three cities when he asked Vena where he should send the National Guard to next.

Trump said Vena told him that when Vena was on the FedEx board, he had been told it wasn’t safe for him to walk one block to his hotel in Memphis and that he needed to be driven in a bullet-proof limo. Vena left the FedEx board in 2023.

Vena, according to Trump, cited the need for a crime crackdown in St. Louis, which Trump said he described as having “been so badly hit.” And he said there needed to be help for Chicago.

“He said, ‘Sir, please don’t lose Chicago. We are about to lose Chicago. It’s a great city. You can save Chicago,’” Trump said.

Trump did not say during the Fox interview how he felt about the proposed Union Pacific purchase of Norfolk Southern. The deal is opposed by some rail customers who worry about how the combination would affect their service and the rates they pay.

Union Pacific did not immediately respond to questions from CNN about Vena’s meeting with Trump.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this report.