In a move that has sparked fierce debate and drawn national attention, President Donald Trump announced on September 12, 2025, that Memphis, Tennessee, could soon see the deployment of National Guard troops in an effort to curb violent crime. The announcement followed what Trump described as a successful federal law enforcement surge in Washington, D.C., where thousands of local police, federal agents, and camouflage-clad troops have patrolled the city nightly since mid-August, targeting crime in neighborhoods ranging from the city’s poorest pockets to its iconic monuments, according to The Washington Post.
Memphis, as it turns out, has the highest violent crime rate among U.S. cities with populations over 250,000, clocking in at 2,501 incidents per 100,000 people, as reported by WSMV citing FBI data. Cities like Oakland, Detroit, and Baltimore trail just behind. Trump, speaking on "Fox & Friends," acknowledged his initial preference to send troops into Chicago—a city whose Democratic leaders have pushed back against federal intervention—but said that an ongoing immigration enforcement operation there made Memphis the next logical target.
“We’ll straighten out the National Guard and anybody else we need,” Trump said during the interview, later touting Memphis as “a great music city” and the “home of Elvis.” The president’s remarks have set off a firestorm of responses from local and state leaders, with opinions split sharply along political and philosophical lines.
On one side, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris condemned the proposed deployment in a statement to Fox News Digital, calling it “disappointing, anti-democratic and violat[ing] American norms and possibly U.S. laws.” Harris warned, “In the short term, the president’s incursion will likely cause confusion and fear in many of our communities, particularly the most vulnerable ones. In the long term, the mark of Tennessee communities being occupied by federal forces will hurt our state’s reputation for generations.” He further argued that the move would “have a chilling effect” on Tennesseans wanting to “exercise critical freedoms, such as the freedom to protest and the liberty to travel,” and pledged to do “everything” possible to “prevent this incursion into Tennessee.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, while acknowledging the possibility of troop deployment, took a more measured tone. On September 11, he stated he was “working to ensure any efforts to strengthen our community” and emphasized the need for more “financial resources” for law enforcement. “We agree with Governor Lee that effective support for Memphis comes through focused initiatives that deliver results like we have seen with the FBI, state troopers and other law enforcement partnerships,” Young said, as reported by WREG. Trump, however, claimed during his Friday interview that “the mayor is happy,” a statement that appears at odds with Young’s request for targeted support rather than direct military involvement.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., took a different stance, praising the president’s decision as a significant step toward making Memphis safer. “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 on September 12. The federal surge in Memphis, she added, could also be part of “Operation Viper,” an initiative involving the FBI and DEA to boost enforcement in West Tennessee.
The debate over the use of federal troops in American cities is hardly new, but it has gained fresh urgency in recent months. According to The Washington Post, the surge in Washington, D.C., included over 9,000 armed personnel from seven Republican-governed states, creating what critics have described as a military-police occupation. The operation, which began on August 20, was justified by Trump under the banner of “preventing crime,” but has drawn sharp criticism from civil liberties advocates, local officials, and artists alike.
One particularly vocal critic has been veteran rock musician Neil Young. In late August, Young debuted a protest song titled “Big Crime,” which explicitly denounces what he calls Trump’s “authoritarian military takeover” of Washington, D.C., and calls for resistance. Debuted at a sound check in Chicago on August 27 and officially released on September 3, “Big Crime” has become a centerpiece of Young’s current tour. The lyrics pull no punches: “Don’t need no fascist rules / Don’t want no fascist schools / Don’t want soldiers walking on our streets / Got big crime in DC at the White House.” The chorus, as reported by World Socialist Web Site, drives the point home: “There’s big crime in DC at the White House.”
Young’s protest is notable not just for its content but for its rarity. As World Socialist Web Site observes, “it is one of the few public artistic protests released by popular musicians in the US against Trump’s unfolding military-police coup d’etat.” The song, performed with his backing band The Chrome Hearts, has been met with enthusiastic responses from concertgoers and has sparked discussions about the role of artists in political resistance.
The cultural pushback hasn’t stopped with Young. Jack White, formerly of The White Stripes, issued a lengthy Instagram post denouncing Trump for “his blatant fascist manipulation of the government, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc., his ridiculous ‘wall’ construction, his attacks on the disabled, his attempted coup and mob insurrection.” White’s comments drew widespread support from fellow musicians and fans, with over 254,000 likes on the post and endorsements from artists like Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and Chan Marshall of Cat Power, as well as comedian Patton Oswalt and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch.
Elsewhere, the Liberian-American folk artist Mon Rovia has seen his protest song “Heavy Foot” go viral on TikTok, further illustrating the growing cultural resistance to what many see as an authoritarian turn in U.S. governance. Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has faced criticism for its approach to the arts, with the Kennedy Center—long a bastion of American culture—undergoing a series of staff dismissals and programming changes that some view as politically motivated. As NPR reported, President Trump has taken major steps to reshape the cultural center, including appointing new honorees and shifting its artistic direction.
Despite the controversy, the White House remains firm in its position, deferring to the president’s remarks when reached for comment by Fox News Digital. The administration points to declining crime rates in Washington, D.C., as evidence of the effectiveness of the federal surge, while critics argue that the costs to civil liberties, local autonomy, and the nation’s reputation may far outweigh any short-term gains.
As the debate rages on, one thing is clear: the battle over federal intervention in American cities has become a flashpoint not only in the halls of government but also on the nation’s stages, airwaves, and streets. Whether the deployment in Memphis goes forward or not, the controversy has already left an indelible mark on the city—and on the national conversation about crime, democracy, and the American way.
