Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Isabel’s morning briefing
Next Post: A quick briefing on Ted Dabrowski’s running mate (Updated)
Posted in:
* AP…
President Donald Trump said Friday he’ll send the National Guard to Memphis to address crime concerns there with the support of the mayor and the governor.
Trump, a Republican, said on Fox News Channel “the mayor is happy” and “the governor is happy” about the pending deployment. The mayor is a Democrat, and the governor is a Republican.
He 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.
Since sending the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, Trump has openly mused about sending troops to some of the nation’s most Democratic cities — including Chicago and Baltimore — claiming they are needed to crack down on crime.
* Trump’s full remarks on the Fox News Channel…
Fox and Friends: The National Guard, because they say they belong in war zones. But our city, Chicago, six people shot over the weekend, killed the weekend before that 11 more…
Trump: And that’s a good weekend.
Fox and Friends: This is happening in every major city. There’s a lunatic that’s on the street, that some Soros DA, that is allowed out. What’s going to happen?
Trump: I think maybe I’ll be the first to say it right now, again, we’re going to Memphis. Memphis is deeply troubled. And the mayor is happy, he’s a Democrat mayor, the mayor is happy, and the governor, Tennessee, the governor is happy, deeply troubled. We’re going to fix that just like we did Washington.
I would have preferred going to Chicago. I had a man and a big, the head of a big, big railroad. They’re doing a merger, and he wanted to come see me and all that stuff. And I asked him, because, you know, that’s one of the largest train companies, maybe the largest, so you can figure out who it is, okay, Union Pacific. And he was in my office, and he started off 45 years ago with the railroad. Such a great — sir, sir, I’m a railroader. That’s the kind of guy that should run it, as opposed to a Wall Street guy that destroys the railroad, but he’s good financially. And he was a very impressive guy. And I said, ‘So what do you think, where should we go next as a city? Because we’re going to 1, 2, 3, and then we’ll do a few at a time, but we’re going to straighten out the crime of these cities.’ He said, ‘Sir, Memphis would be good because he’s 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 bulletproof glass to take me one block.’ He said, ‘It’s so terrible.’ I said, let me ask you a question. So we’re going to Memphis. I’m just announcing that now, and we’ll straighten that out.
Fox and Friends: National Guard?
Trump: 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. But Memphis is — look, it’s a great music city. It’s, you know, home of Elvis and everything else. But I said to him, ‘Where else should we go? Where would you say?’ He said, ‘Sir, please do me a favor. St. Louis has been so badly hit. It’s very hard, very, very hard.’ He said, ‘Don’t lose Chicago. You’re going to lose Chicago, sir. It’s a great city. You’re going to lose Chicago.’ And then we have this ‘la Pritzker’ on television every day. All he does is hit Trump. I said, does he realize last weekend he had 11 people killed and 28 wounded, 28.
Fox and Friends: Doesn’t bother him. He says he’s got the situation handled.
Trump: And he keeps saying, we have no crime problem. The week before — he had a week, we had 72 people injured and like 11 died. But every — if he does five, like you just said, five — that’s a good week. Every weekend they’re losing many people. It’s out of control.
But when this guy, who’s a smart guy here, he head’s a big-the biggest railroad, he said the way he said it. He said, Sir, please don’t lose Chicago. You about we are about to lose Chicago. It’s a great city. You can save Chicago.
Please pardon any transcription errors.
Memphis is the second-most populous city in Tennessee, behind Nashville. Memphis has historically experienced a high crime rate, though like other major cities, it has seen a drop in crime in recent years.
“Overall crime is at a 25-year low, with robbery, burglary, and larceny also reaching 25-year lows,” the Memphis Police Department said in a news release Tuesday.
Young, the Memphis mayor, acknowledged in a statement to local media Thursday that Trump and Lee were “considering” deploying the National Guard to Memphis.
…Adding… Mayor Johnson…
Mayor Brandon Johnson Response to Trump “would have preferred” to send National Guard to Chicago
“Because of the unified opposition from community leaders and elected officials in Chicago and throughout the state, the Trump administration backed down from its threats of sending in the National Guard to Chicago. We continue to call on the federal government to send additional resources to help us continue to drive down violent crime, but we reject any military occupation of our city. The way to reduce violence is by focusing on the strategies that work: effective policing, violence prevention, and investing in communities.”
* Related…
* Fox Chicago | Trump pivots, will send National Guard to Memphis instead of Chicago: Trump made the announcement during an interview on Fox News, saying he “would have preferred going to Chicago” but described the city as “hostile” with “professional agitators.” Both Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson opposed the idea of a deployment there.
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 9:18 am
Previous Post: Isabel’s morning briefing
Next Post: A quick briefing on Ted Dabrowski’s running mate (Updated)
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Team Fight 1, Team Capitulate 0.
Comment by ItsMillerTime Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 9:23 am
TACO
Comment by Huh? Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 9:27 am
If crime in Memphis is at a 25 year low, why do the Governor and Mayor feel that they’re failing and the National Guard is needed? What message does it send to the Memphis PD?
Comment by Pundent Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 9:33 am
@ Huh? -
You took the word right out of my mouth. When you stand up to bullies, they fold.
Comment by JoanP Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 9:40 am
One of the last visits to Memphis, I went to Beale Street with my wife and kids. We were looking forward to both the music and food that the area is known for.
We arrived late afternoon. After parking our car, we journeyed toward the famous street and were stopped by three cops standing on the street corner.
They said, “Please make sure you get out of here before sunset, as it’s really not safe down here after dark.”
I was stunned. This was one of the more popular attractions of the region, and the police were warning me to stay away.
I’m hopeful that Memphis can improve. Candidly, as popular as Broadway Street is in Nashville, Beale street would have that same potential…..but not if it’s only during daylight hours.
Comment by Downstate Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 9:41 am
Sad to see Fox and Trump playing the anti-Semitic Soros trope.
Comment by Heat of Summer Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:01 am
Soldiers fight wars. Police fight crime. This is just more performative garbage wasting our tax dollars.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:13 am
They *really* hate George Soros
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:14 am
Hope the National Guard has blue suede shoes.
Comment by Bigtwich Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:28 am
=== the Governor and Mayor ===
They’re playing to their audience. To academics who study crime and crime prevention (if any are still available) here’s a perfect case study. The questions are still there. Who’s paying, impact on guard …
Comment by Norseman Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:43 am
Good move for Memphis in attempt to at least temporarily tamper down crime. That is as long as the City officials approve of it.
Although how long can they stay and will this have any long term effect?
Comment by Mason County Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:51 am
I imagine martial law and soldiers on every street corner would also reduce crime. /s
Comment by tone Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 10:53 am
TACO….
Comment by Rahm's Parking Meter Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 11:06 am
So red states can’t handle their business when it comes to law enforcement and need daddy to step in and do it for them. Go it.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 11:09 am
Let’s see how the weekend goes here in Chicago
Comment by Hank Sauer Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 11:16 am
>> Let’s see how the weekend goes here in Chicago
It is quite possible one factor in Trump’s decision-making is they realized if they parked a bunch of National Guard troops around the downtown Loop, there -would- still be shootings and people getting killed (there were still murders in Los Angeles after the NG deployment there) and that might puncture the fairytale wouldn’t it.
Trump rarely solves any problem. He just endlessly messages that it’s all due to him when something happens to go right, somewhere, and obviously it’s someone else’s fault when things go wrong. I’m not saying that’s the only factor, but he’d tied himself pretty tightly to this idea that murders were supposed to stop in Chicago if he sent in the Guard, and someone may have gently pointed out to him that was not gonna happen.
Comment by ZC Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 11:25 am
Better them than us.
Comment by localgovhero Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 11:37 am
It seems truly odd that President Trump would suggest he learned of Memphis being among the most dangerous cities in the United States (in terms of murder rate) only after talking to a railroader.
The FBI data has consistently demonstrated Memphis among the most dangerous cities for years, but apparently it was a chance meeting with a railroader that convinced President Trump.
Comment by H-W Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 12:00 pm
I don’t want to get banned so I’ll say,
Stay the Heck out of here, you jerk, we have no time for you Jerk
Comment by Someone You Should KNow Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 12:05 pm
Any idea who the Chicago railroad magnate might be? Or is this just another “sir” story??
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 12:21 pm
@ Socially DIstant Watcher ==They *really* hate George Soros==
It combines some of their favorite things. Antisemitism, and projection.
Comment by Homebody Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 12:28 pm
@ItsMillerTime “Team Fight 1, Team Capitulate 0.”
Perfectly said. If only Schumer, Jeffries, and others would take note.
Comment by CA-HOON Friday, Sep 12, 25 @ 12:40 pm