NPR News

Memphis latest city Trump is targeting for federal government actions to combat crime

By Padmananda Rama

Published September 12, 2025 at 5:51 AM PDT

In this file photo from Sept. 2023, a police car in Memphis is shown on the scene of a reported carjacking. On Sept. 12, President Trump announced in an interview on "Fox & Friends" Memphis will be the next site of federal action to combat crime, following intervention in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

In an interview Friday morning, President Trump announced Memphis is his next target for federal intervention to combat crime. The president said he has support from Tennessee's governor and Memphis' mayor.

President Trump is expanding his campaign to intervene in U.S. cities to combat what he says is out of control crime and illegal immigration to Memphis, Tenn.

Trump announced Memphis would be the next target for a federal law enforcement push.

"Memphis is that's the next city, deeply troubled," Trump said in an interview on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning. "We're going to fix that, just like we did Washington."

After placing D.C.'s police department under federal control, Trump had threatened he would take similar actions in other cities. He has the ability to do so in the nation's capital, because the Home Rule Act gives him command of D.C.'s National Guard. However, the president's ability to intervene in other cities is limited since governors control the deployment of National Guard troops in their states.

Trump said that Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee and Memphis Mayor Paul Young supported the decision.