In brief
President Trump has declared that Memphis will be the next city to receive National Guard troops, citing high crime rates as a major concern. While he believes that the city's officials support this decision, Memphis Mayor Paul Young has expressed reservations about the deployment's effectiveness. This announcement comes as part of Trump's ongoing efforts to tackle crime in various U.S. cities, drawing both support and criticism.
Memphis in Tennessee will be the next US city where Donald Trump sends National Guard troops as part of his ongoing crackdown in Democrat-led cities.
The US president made the announcement during a wide-ranging interview on Fox News on Friday, and claimed the city's mayor, a Democrat, was 'happy' about the decision, as was the state's governor, who is a Republican.
The deployment to Memphis would mark an escalation in Trump's use of troops and comes roughly a month after he sent the National Guard to the streets of Washington DC.
Memphis has one of the highest rates of crime in the US, with 2,501 violent crimes per 100,000 people, FBI data shows.
'We're going to Memphis,' Trump said, without giving details of when troops would arrive. 'Memphis is deeply troubled.'
He added that he also wanted to lower crime in New Orleans, Baltimore and Chicago.
The country has been wondering for weeks if he would deploy troops to Chicago, as his immigration enforcement 'Operation Midway Blitz' ramps up.
On Friday, Trump appeared to indicate he had chosen to send the National Guard to Memphis instead of the mid-western city, saying: 'I would have preferred going to Chicago.'
But Memphis Mayor Paul Young told a news conference on Friday afternoon: 'I want to be clear, I didn't ask for the National Guard and I don't think it's the way to drive down crime, however that decision has been made.'
He said his goal was to make sure that the deployment happened in a strategic way that 'truly benefits and strengthens our community'.
Earlier in the week, Young released a statement saying he had been in talks with the Trump administration about bringing in federal support for the city's police department.
'What we need most are financial resources for intervention and prevention, additional patrol officers, and case support to strengthen investigations,' Young said.
'Memphis is already making measurable progress in bringing down crime, and we support initiatives that help accelerate the pace of the work our officers, community partners, and residents are doing every day.'
Trump took charge of Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on 11 August and activated the National Guard. The takeover was valid for 30 days, which expired earlier this week.
Hundreds of arrests were made during that time, the White House said, and Trump has declared that DC is now 'virtually crime free'.
Despite that, troops are expected to remain in the nation's capital for the foreseeable future, and many of them can be seen around the city helping with trash collection and mulching.
The use of the National Guard to support law enforcement has come under scrutiny by legal experts, with some concerned about using the military against civilians.
A court recently found Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this year unlawful, but said the ruling did not apply to the deployment of troops elsewhere.
