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Then, on Friday morning, Trump made his announcement on Fox News. He said Memphis is "deeply troubled" and "we're going to fix that just like we did Washington," where he deployed the National Guard and surged federal law enforcement.

Asked on CNN whether he had "hard confirmation" before Trump's announcement, Young said: "No, that was the confirmation."

Days earlier Memphis police reported drops in every major crime category in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in previous years. Overall crime hit a 25-year low, and murder a six-year low, police said.

But Memphis has dealt with stubborn gun violence problems for years. In 2023 the city saw a record 390 homicides.

The city also is still wrestling with fallout from the January 2023 death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by Memphis police officers. In December the Department of Justice under then-President Joe Biden found a host of civil rights violations in the police department, part of an investigation spurred by Nichols' death. The findings included the use of excessive force, illegal traffic stops and disproportionate targeting of Black people in the majority-Black city.