President Donald Trump announced last week that Memphis, the second-largest city in Tennessee, could become the third American municipality to see National Guard troops deployed on its streets.
The administration had previously stated that it would deploy the National Guard to Chicago. Weeks later, the White House has pivoted to Memphis, without revealing a timeline.
The National Guard Walking in Memphis – What We Know
While Memphis Mayor Paul Young wasn’t asking for the potential National Guard deployment, he said he would be open to discussing ways to address crime in the city.
Tennessee Republican lawmakers, including Governor Bill Lee, have been supportive of the proposed deployment. Advisors close to the president urged him against sending troops to aid law enforcement without buy-in from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
Mayor Young and Governor Lee had discussed the possibility of increasing the law enforcement presence in the city, including additional resources from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Young was informed of a possible deployment of National Guard personnel.
The mayor is now awaiting additional details on the activities the National Guard will undertake. He had suggested that the guardsmen could assist with traffic control during major events, monitoring the city’s network of surveillance cameras and participating in neighborhood “beautification” efforts. The latter could be similar to the trash cleanup efforts the National Guard has already undertaken in Washington, D.C., while the assistance with traffic control would help free up police to perform their regular policing duties.
The National Guard was deployed to Memphis in 1968 following the assassination of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and then in 1978 after the city’s police and firefighters’ unions went on strike.
Latest Deployment This Year
Memphis could be the third American city to see a National Guard deployment this year. This spring, the White House federalized thousands of California National Guard personnel along with hundreds of United States Marines, sending the troops to Los Angeles County.
Another followed the deployment in California and Washington, D.C., where the troops were placed under federal control pursuant to Title 10 of the U.S. Code. To date, guardsmen from seven states have joined the District of Columbia National Guard, patrolling the capital’s parks and metro stops, while personnel have cleaned up monuments and even picked up the trash.
The White House has hailed the deployments to Los Angeles and D.C. as great successes and has proposed to send troops to other cities, including Baltimore, MD, and Portland, OR.
National Guard Recruitment
It is unclear whether the National Guard deployments will hurt or help recruiting efforts. However, the National Guard Association announced last November that it had seen a strong recruiting year in fiscal year 2024 (FY24). Several states also reported National Guard recruitment had rebounded in 2024 or 2025 after years of failing to meet goals.
In April, the U.S. Army began intensifying its recruiting and retention efforts for the National Guard.
