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Memphis Mayor Paul Young (D) on Saturday refuted President Trump’s claim that he is “happy” about the president’s plan to deploy the National Guard to the Tennessee city in the coming days.
“I’m certainly not happy about the National Guard,” Young told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on “First of All” over the weekend.
“The authority to call the National Guard lies with the governor and the president, and, so as mayor, my goal is to make sure that if they are indeed coming, that we have an opportunity to drive some of the decisions around how they engage in our community,” Young said.
“With regards to the National Guard, it is something that we don’t have a choice in, and we’re going to do all that we can to make sure that it has limited impact on our community,” he added.
Trump suggested in an interview on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” on Friday that Young and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) are “happy” that the next phase of his federal crime crackdown will be in Memphis. Trump deployed National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C., last month to combat crime, and he has suggested that other Democrat-led cities could soon face similar interventions.
“We’re going to Memphis. Memphis is deeply troubled,” Trump said Friday. “The mayor is happy — he’s a Democrat mayor.”
“We’re going to fix that just like Washington,” the president said of his push toward Memphis.
It’s unclear when National Guard troops may be activated in Tennessee to address crime.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Memphis had the nation’s highest crime rate per 100,000 people last year, accrding to FBI data.
Young insisted the city is making strides to tackle the problem, though he acknowledged additional support would be welcome in some efforts.
“I am looking forward to trying to find ways to invest in the things that we’re already doing to address crime in our city,” he said. “We’ve seen significant reductions over the past two years since we’ve been in office, and we want to continue that work.”
“At the end of the day, my goal is to make sure that if they are coming here, which we now know they are, that we are able to drive how they engage in our city,” he added.
