Trump to deploy National Guard to Memphis in crime crackdown

President Donald Trump said Friday he will send the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, and signaled federal law enforcement and possibly military forces could follow as part of a national crackdown on urban crime. Trump announced the plan during a Fox News interview, calling Memphis "deeply troubled" and saying both the city's Democratic mayor and the state's Republican governor were "happy" with the decision. He added, "We're going to fix that just like we did Washington," and said, "we'll bring in the military too if we need it." He also said he would have preferred sending forces to Chicago.

Administration officials have not specified which federal statute or authority would be invoked to deploy forces to Memphis, and the White House had not provided details on timing or the size of any deployment by Friday. The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, already has the authority to mobilize the state National Guard without federal action, an option that could render a presidential directive unnecessary if the goal is state-controlled troop movements.

Accounts of conditions in Memphis differ. Trump...