President Trump says National Guard coming to Memphis to combat crime

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - President Donald Trump says he is sending the National Guard to Memphis to help combat crime.

The president made the announcement on Fox News Channel on Friday morning.

Details on the deployment--how and when troops will arrive in the city--have not been made public. Governor Bill Lee says he will speak with Trump on Friday afternoon to work out details on the plan.

“As one of America’s world-class cities, Memphis remains on a path to greatness, and we are not going to let anything hold them back,” Lee said in a statement.

Trump said the city is “deeply troubled” and “we’re going to fix that just like we did Washington,” where he’s sent National Guard and surged federal law enforcement.

Trump says Mayor Paul Young and Governor Bill Lee are “happy” with the decision.

Trump said he “would have preferred going to Chicago,” where local politicians have fiercely resisted his plans, but he suggested it was a “hostile” place with “professional agitators.”

Trump claims he made the decision to send troops to Memphis instead after talking with a friend who is on the board of FedEx.

“He said, ‘When I walk one block to my hotel, they won’t allow me to do it. They put me in an armored vehicle with bullet proof glass to take me one block.’ He said, ‘It’s so terrible,’” Trump said. “So we’re going to Memphis. I’m just announcing that now, and we’ll straighten that out. National Guard and anybody else we need, and by the way, we’ll bring in the military too if we need it, but National Guard.”

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