Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
National Guard troops deploy to Memphis with the governor’s consent while courts block the Chicago deployment
Troops reached Memphis because Tennessee’s governor agreed. Illinois’s governor sued, and three courts, including the Supreme Court, left the block in place.
What happened
On September 15, 2025, Trump signed a memorandum creating the Memphis Safe Task Force and directing the defense secretary to ask Tennessee’s governor to deploy the state’s National Guard. Federal officers surged into Memphis on October 1, and Stephen Miller told task-force officers they were unleashed. Governor Bill Lee mobilized Tennessee Guard troops at the Pentagon’s request, and patrols began in October.
The Chicago deployment went differently. Illinois and Chicago sued on October 4. On October 9, Judge April Perry blocked the federalization and deployment of Guard troops in Illinois, finding no evidence of a danger of rebellion. The Seventh Circuit upheld the block on October 16, and on December 23, 2025, the Supreme Court denied a stay.
Trump ended the Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland deployments on December 31, and those troops left in January 2026. A Tennessee court enjoined the Memphis deployment in November 2025, and the state Court of Appeals reversed on April 28, 2026. Patrols continued into October 2026.
Who benefited
The White House established that a Guard deployment can proceed quickly where a governor consents. It placed federal task forces in a Democratic-led city under a crime rationale. The Memphis model became the template offered to other states.
Who wanted something
Trump ordered the Memphis and Chicago actions by memorandum. Governor Lee supplied the Tennessee Guard. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago’s mayor refused and sued. Memphis’s mayor and Shelby County’s mayor objected to the Memphis deployment, which went ahead on the governor’s consent.
Who lost out
Memphis residents, whose city and county mayors objected, saw federal agents and Guard troops patrolling their neighborhoods. The governor said the Guard contingent would be unarmed and would not make arrests unless local authorities asked. Illinois spent months in litigation defending its control of its Guard.
Why it matters
Courts in Illinois, Oregon and California each found that the administration’s claims of rebellion lacked a factual basis, and the Supreme Court declined to override them. Troops reached American streets fastest where a friendly governor consented. Judicial review has so far been the operative check elsewhere.
Sources Supreme Court of the United States (primary)Tennessee Court of Appeals (primary)USA TodayWREG Memphis