President Donald Trump announced his plans to deploy the National Guard to Memphis and shared his vision for achieving national unity through economic success during an appearance on Fox & Friends.
In the September 12 interview, he addressed various issues, including rising urban crime and political violence, while also discussing his agenda for a potential second term. This marked his first extensive public comments following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“You have to go forward. You just have to go forward. You watch as closely as you can,” said Trump.
The President announced federal intervention in Memphis to combat violent crime:
“We’re going to Memphis. Memphis is deeply troubled … We’re going to fix that just like we did Washington.”
Trump highlighted his administration’s success in reducing crime in the nation’s capital:
“Look at what we did in D.C. We took D.C. — probably the single-worst place in the country in terms of the country — [and now] there’s no crime. It’s a crime-free area.”
He called on supporters to channel anger into electoral action:
“You want revenge at the voter box.”
The President blamed Democratic policies for urban crime waves:
“Almost every city that’s in trouble is run by Democrats. Cashless bail is a disaster … has to be ended immediately.”
Trump suggested potential racketeering investigations into organized left-wing agitation:
“We’re going to look into Soros because I think it’s a RICO case against him and other people because this is more than protests. This is real agitation; this is riots on the street — and we’re going to look into that.”
On economic matters, Trump touted stock market gains during his second term:
“I love doing it because we’re going to Make America Great Again — it’s happening. Look at the stock market. We’ve had the stock market hitting record highs, … never been higher.”
He criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s timing on interest rates:
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell. Too late on the interest rates. … He’s a year late — and despite that, we have the best economy.”
Trump defended his tariff policies as essential to American prosperity:
“We’ve been successful because of the tariffs. It’s given us a great power to negotiate with other countries that took advantage of us — tremendous power.”
The President expressed frustration with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict:
“[My patience] sort of running out and running out fast — but it does take two to tango. … When Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelensky wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. … We’re going to have to come down very, very strong.”
Trump criticized Senate Democrats for blocking his nominees:
“We have 200 people that left their jobs in order to come into the Administration, and the Democrats are blocking every one. … If I had George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — they came back from the dead and they wanted to go into the Administration — Schumer would not approve them.”
Trump praised recent Supreme Court decisions on merit-based policies:
“We have a decision on merit. In other words, this country is now a country of merit. You don’t have to be a woman or a man or a this or a that, … it’s all based on merit now. … That was a big, big decision.”
Asked about healing national divisions, Trump offered a simple prescription:
“The only thing that’s going to bring us together is tremendous success.”