President Donald Trump deployed more than 2,000 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., in a crime-centered mission, and now he wants a replica of that in Memphis, but the early blueprints show key differences.
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee has publicly said he would not expect more than 150 National Guard members to be sent to Memphis, though he’s said the numbers aren’t solidified. The city has said there won’t be tanks. And the Guard troops won’t be armed unless local authorities request that, Lee said.
Next week, Memphis will get its first batch of additional federal officers. In waves over weeks and months, they will come from 13 federal agencies, ranging from immigration to drug enforcement. The Guard members won’t be making arrests, Lee said.
The majority-Black city also presents some stark differences compared with the nation’s capital. It’s roughly four times as expansive with almost 100,000 fewer residents.
Here is how Memphis fits Trump’s deployment plan:
Memphis and Washington
In growing Tennessee, Memphis’ population has been declining, with nearly 611,000 people across nearly 300 square miles. Washington includes about 702,000 people in roughly 68 square miles.
Memphis sees about half the number of visitors annually as Washington, with its wider path of sightseeing areas. Memphis might similarly see troops in tourist spots.
Thaddeus Johnson, a former Memphis police commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, worries the presence of troops could worsen Memphis’ economy.
“Imagine a place like Memphis that already can’t compete when it comes to those things, they’re struggling with tourism and getting people to come and feel safe,” Johnson said. “I’m not sure if that’s going to bring businesses back.”
Johnson said it’s important for people to feel safe in highly visited areas, but some neighborhoods have greater needs. Lee has pledged a long-term effort, but Johnson said that if the follow-through isn’t enough, the situation could get worse before it gets better.
Governor and mayor weigh in
Lee’s estimate of 150 National Guard members came with the caveat that it’s not finalized, and he’s been hesitant to repeat it. And while authorities from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will be in town starting next week, it’s unclear when Guard members will arrive. Lee also said 300 Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers will be in the region.
Trump’s Sept. 15 order setting up the Memphis task force calls for “large-scale saturation of besieged neighborhoods with law enforcement personnel” and “strict enforcement of applicable quality-of-life, nuisance, and public-safety laws.”
Governor Bill Lee speaks at a news conference surrounded by local officials and law enforcement leaders to discuss the deployment of the National Guard and other state and national resources to Memphis in Memphis on September 26, 2025. – Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal/USA TODAY/Imagn Images
Lee has said the National Guard members will be from Tennessee, the vast majority of them military police, trained for law enforcement. He announced another $100 million from the state for public safety grants for Memphis.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, has said Washington city officials told him the Guard functioned there more as “a large-scale neighborhood watch than frontline police officers.”
Young has said he didn’t ask for the Guard’s deployment and doesn’t think it will reduce crime. He thinks the Guard can help Memphis the most through beautification: “clearing more vacant lots, removing more trash, and restoring more blocks.”
He also called for a federal hand in homelessness services, “from housing vouchers to tiny homes, from job readiness to mental health support.” Housing and health and human services agencies are in the Memphis task force.
How Trump landed on Memphis
Last month, Trump appeared on a Memphis radio show in which host Todd Starnes asked him if there was anything the president could do to help the city. Trump said what they are doing in Washington is “sort of a test” and, regarding Memphis, he said he was glad Starnes mentioned the city and that he “can put that early on the list.”
Memphis was on FBI director Kash Patel’s radar in May, when he called it “the homicide capital of America per capita” in a Fox News interview.
“Didn’t know that,” Patel said. “We have a problem there. We’re now addressing it.”
Lee said Patel visited him at the Tennessee Capitol. Since May, the FBI says a Memphis operation has arrested some 500 people and produced 101 federal indictments of violent criminals.
Then on Sept. 12, Trump announced he would send the National Guard to Memphis. He quipped that Chicago was his preference, where local politicians have fiercely resisted his plans, but he said the city was too “hostile” with “professional agitators.”
In Los Angeles, meanwhile, Trump in June deployed roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines after days of protests over immigration raids.
During the September announcement, Trump said he decided to send troops into Memphis after Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena — who regularly visited the city while on the board of FedEx — urged him earlier in the week to address crime there.
Crime numbers
Memphis has endured gun violence issues for years. In 2023, the city saw a record of more than 390 homicides, and specific killings have topped headlines. But both Democratic and Republican officials have noted that Memphis is seeing recent decreases in some crime categories.
Across the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in previous years, Memphis police have reported that overall crime hit a 25-year low, and murder a six-year low. Johnson, with the Council on Criminal Justice, said the city still should provide more nuance since the police stats rely on total incidents, not the number of victims.
People demonstrate above Interstate 40 in Nashville, Tenn on September 26, 2025, against the deployment of the National Guard in Memphis. – George Walker IV/AP
A study by the Council on Criminal Justice of roughly 30 to 40 U.S. cities found that the homicide rate in Memphis was among the highest from 2018 through June 2025, and its rate was 58% higher in the first half of 2025 compared with the pre-pandemic first half of 2019. The average change across the large cities studied was a 14% decrease.
Memphis’ mid-2025 rate dropped 21% below its 2023 homicide peak.
The city outpaced others in recent declines in reported carjacking and motor vehicle theft, and it made roughly average drops in reported robbery, and residential and nonresidential burglary, the study found. Despite recent declines, motor vehicle theft remained well above 2019 levels.
Young said that even with rate decreases, work remains “to get crime at a level where people really, really feel it.”
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