Trump claims victory on Memphis crime as his crackdown draws protests.

By EMILY COCHRANE and ERICA L. GREEN

A visit by President Donald Trump earlier this week revealed how torn Memphis, Tennessee, was over becoming a test case for his administration’s aggressive approach to urban crime.

Hundreds gathered outside a Memphis shopping plaza to protest Trump’s arrival in the city, where federal agents have been working for months with Tennessee Highway Patrol officers and local police to make thousands of arrests and seize drugs and guns.

Trump first signed an executive order in September creating a task force dedicated to crime in Memphis. He found a far more welcoming Republican state leadership in Tennessee compared with Democratic-led states where he sent in the National Guard and federal security forces.

“You have now developed a reputation as a city that’s coming back stronger than any city in the country because of what’s happened with crime and because your political leaders had the courage to do what they did,” said Trump, flanked by state Republicans and top administration officials.

There is little disagreement that the city has long struggled with crime, including in the years just after the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak. Some residents have welcomed the influx of law enforcement resources and the coordinated focus on crime.

But others, including protesters Monday, point to the strain the uptick in arrests has put on the local court system and the deep fears among people of color being targeted in the city. On Monday, some also bristled at Trump’s use of the city to advance his agenda.

“It’s a pattern of Memphians not being able to set their own narrative,” said Meggan Kiel, 45, who was born and raised in the city and now works for a nonprofit.

Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat whom Trump has praised for working with the task force, was notably absent Monday. Young cited a personal conflict, and also noted that he had been invited to be in the audience, but not to speak.

After the president’s event, Young told reporters that he tried to make the best of the situation.