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Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., lauded President Donald Trump’s announcement that the National Guard would come to Memphis, Tenn., to “Make Memphis Safe Again.”
“Today, President Trump answered my call to do whatever it takes to Make Memphis Safe Again, and I applaud his decision to send the National Guard to Memphis following his tremendous success in reducing violent crime in Washington, D.C.,” Blackburn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Time and time again, President Trump has stepped in to restore law and order in blue cities that refuse to protect their own citizens, and I will continue working alongside the Trump administration to hold left-wing officials accountable for the consequences of soft-on-crime agendas,” she continued.
TRUMP SAYS NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYING TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, NEXT AMID ANTI-CRIME PUSH
Sen. Marsha Blackburn arrives to a Senate Judiciary committee business meeting at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump announced his plan to make Memphis, which the FBI reported had the highest crime rate in the country, the next stop in his plan to crack down on crime in major cities on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning.
When asked about violence and Chicago, a city the president has strongly considered bringing the National Guard to next, Trump pivoted and said, “We’re going to Memphis.”
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Trump announced his plan to make Memphis the next stop in his plan to crack down on crime in major cities on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“Memphis is — that’s the next city — deeply troubled,” he said. “And the mayor is happy. He’s a Democrat mayor. The mayor is happy, and the governor of Tennessee, the governor, is happy.”
“Deeply troubled,” he said of the city. “We’re going to fix that, just like we did Washington.”
Trump said that he “would have preferred going to Chicago,” but it was a conversation with a railroad executive that changed his mind, and attention, to Memphis.
“I said, ‘So what do you think, where should we go next as the city, because we’re going to do one, two, three, and then we’ll do a few at a time, but we’re going to straighten out the crime in these cities,’” Trump said. “And he said, ‘Sir, Memphis would be good.’”
He confirmed his intent to send the National Guard, and added, “And anybody else we need, and by the way, we’ll bring in the military too if we need it.”
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The incident occurred in Memphis, Tennessee, according to police. (Brad Vest/Getty Images)
Chicago had been in the administration’s crosshairs for weeks following Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., a move that came with his federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) last month.
But his tone on the city shifted earlier this week, when he told reporters, “We’re working it out with the governor of a certain state that would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state would love us to be there.”
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Meanwhile, Trump’s federalization of the District’s police ended on Wednesday. Under the Home Rule Act, Trump was given a 30-day window to control the local police force but was required to get an extension from Congress to maintain his grip.
That never came, nor did Trump’s suggestion that he would skirt Congress by enacting a national emergency to maintain his control of the MPD. The National Guard presence in the city is expected to remain, however.
Fox News reached out to Mayor Paul Young and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for comment but did not immediately hear back.
