President Trump on Monday championed his law enforcement operation in Memphis, saying it has achieved one of the largest, fastest crime declines in the nation’s history.
Mr. Trump said the steep decline in killings, carjackings and robberies that Memphis has witnessed over the past six months came about from a combination of the U.S. Marshals Service, the National Guard and state agencies such as the Tennessee Highway Patrol pitching in to help.
It’s a stark difference from where the city was 15 months ago when the president said Memphis’ public safety was first brought to his attention.
“In Memphis, the crime became so horrible that residents were made prisoners of violence in their own community, in their own home,” Mr. Trump said Monday at a roundtable in Memphis highlighting the operation’s progress.
“But with the help of the great people right here at this table, it’s a whole different story right now,” the president said. “It’s changing fast, and it’ll be record-setting in a very short period of time, and I’ll be here to celebrate it with you.”
The Memphis Safe Task Force netted more than 7,400 arrests and confiscated more than 1,200 guns ever since the mission first began in September, the White House said. In that same period, the administration said 150 missing children were found and reunited with their families.
The White House said violent crime fell by 43% compared to the same time six-month span last year, with carjackings down 74%, robberies down 51% and killings down 35%.
Shootings dropped by roughly 40% as well, the administration said. Memphis’ 184 slayings in 2025 was the first time homicide totals dipped below 200 since 2019.
The city was in dire straits a few years ago. In 2023, Memphis saw a record-high 397 killings. That number fell marginally in 2024 before the crime numbers improved considerably last year.
Mr. Trump pointed the finger squarely at prior leadership regimes in Memphis for allowing violence to balloon out of control.
“This catastrophe was a result of years of local politicians, judges and prosecutors sided with violent criminals over law abiding citizens. Basically, liberals,” he said.
But he credited Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, and Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, for cooperating with the task force.
He likened Memphis’ transformation to the crime decline in the District, which has seen violent offenses nosedive after National Guard troops and federal agents were deployed into the nation’s capital last summer.
Metropolitan Police data show robberies are down 29%, carjackings are down 51% and killings are down 65%, with the city only documenting 11 homicides so far this year.
The Pentagon extended the National Guard deployment in the District of Columbia until 2029.
The White House has not said there is an end date for the crime-fighting operating in Memphis.
