Memphis: Why Trump’s National Guard Stunt Will Be a Bigger Shit Show Than DC

DC was theater. Memphis will be blood.

Memphis: Why Trump’s National Guard Stunt Will Be a Bigger Shit Show Than DC

DC was theater. Memphis will be blood.

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #546: Saturday, September 13th, 2025.

The Hammer Falls: From DC to Memphis

Let’s strip the varnish. DC was always theater. Troops at the Capitol. Cameras. Optics.

But Memphis? Memphis isn’t marble pillars and press conferences. It’s a city of flesh and blood. A city where scars from racism…poverty…and injustice never healed.

Trump thinks rolling Guard troops into Memphis will make him look strong. But what it will do is expose his weakness…because Memphis is not DC. The blowback won’t be polite. It won’t be contained. It will be ugly…real…and impossible to spin away.

Authority Over Humanity: Trump’s Favorite Excuse

Trump hides behind the same line every time: “I have the authority.”

Authority is the fig leaf of cowards. It’s the excuse of bureaucrats who want power without accountability. The courts hand him authority…and he thinks that’s the end of the story.

But Memphis doesn’t bow to authority. Memphis remembers. Memphis resists. And when authority meets history in Memphis, sparks fly.

Memphis Is Not DC

1. The Fuse Is Shorter

DC lives on security theater.

Fences. Barricades. Cops in riot gear. Protests are part of the backdrop.

Memphis isn’t built for that. Drop the Guard into a Memphis neighborhood and it won’t look like “order.” It’ll look like an army marching into occupied territory.

2. A Racial Flashpoint Waiting to Ignite

Memphis is majority Black.

It’s the city where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The city where Tyre Nichols’ murder by police officers was caught on tape and burned into America’s conscience.

Bring soldiers into that context and you aren’t restoring peace…you’re ripping open wounds that never healed. That footage will burn hotter than anything DC ever produced.

3. Local vs. Federal Power

In DC, everyone expects the feds to run the show.

In Memphis, local leaders will push back. Community leaders, clergy, activists—they will not sit silent. That tension between local resistance and federal force is the recipe for chaos.

History’s Warning: Blood on Beale Street

You cannot separate Memphis from its history.

• 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. The city erupted. The National Guard was deployed then, too. Blood spilled.

• 2023: Tyre Nichols beaten to death by Memphis police…sparking protests nationwide.

• Every decade since: Poverty, disinvestment…systemic abuse layered on a city that already carried the weight of injustice.

Trump thinks he can send troops into that city and frame it as “law and order.” He’s walking into a powder keg with a lit torch.

Trump’s Dry Run: Road-Testing the Deportation Machine

Memphis is not just about Memphis. It’s about testing how far he can go.

• Can he deploy the Guard into a major U.S. city with minimal political blowback?

• How will the media frame it…“chaos” or “order”?

• Will local officials roll over or resist?

• How much violence will people stomach before they demand it stop?

This is his dry run. Memphis is the lab. Its people are the guinea pigs.

The Human Cost: Real People…Real Blood

Don’t forget the stakes. These aren’t talking points…they’re people.

• Families who’ve lived through decades of policing and poverty will now have soldiers outside their homes.

• Kids will see armored vehicles where they should see school buses.

• Protests will flare, clashes will escalate, and ordinary people will pay the price.

Trump wants the optics of strength. What he’ll get is blood on Beale Street.

The Optics: Why Memphis Will Break the Internet

In DC…troops on Capitol Hill looked like politics as usual. Shocking…yes…but expected.

In Memphis? Soldiers facing off against Black citizens on streets marked by King’s death and Nichols’ beating? That footage will spread like wildfire.

Trump thinks that image makes him look like a strongman. In reality…it makes him look like a thug. And America will see the difference.

The Bigger Picture: From Memphis to Everywhere

Memphis is just the opening act. If Trump gets away with this…the playbook is clear:

• Atlanta.

• Chicago.

• Houston.

• Any city he wants to provoke.

This isn’t about one city. It’s about establishing the precedent that the President can deploy the Guard anywhere…anytime…against anyone.

If Memphis falls…so will the rest.

Why You Can’t Sit This One Out

This isn’t left versus right. It’s not Democrat versus Republican.

It’s whether you want to live in a country where the President can march troops into your backyard without asking.

Trump’s Memphis stunt is the test. If we let it happen quietly…the next city is already on the list.

Bonus Section

The Real Playbook: Why Memphis Was Chosen

Memphis wasn’t random. It was chosen because it guarantees a flashpoint.

• Majority Black population = racial wedge politics.

• History of violence and civil rights trauma = guaranteed outrage.

• Local officials with spines = confrontation on camera.

This isn’t about law and order. It’s about creating chaos he can exploit.

The Logistics Already in Motion

This isn’t theory. The machine is already warming up.

• National Guard mobilization: quietly prepped in multiple states.

• ICE integration: practice for joint operations under the banner of “domestic security.”

• Private detention contracts: new beds waiting to be filled.

• Media rehearsals: friendly outlets scripting the spin…“Memphis proves Trump was right.”

The Three Pressure Points

Expose the Strategy

Hammer the truth: Memphis was chosen to provoke. Make it impossible for Trump to claim it’s “random” or “necessary.”

Elevate Local Voices

The moral authority in Memphis lies with its community leaders. Put them on every screen…every feed…every front page.

Hit the Money

Every deployment costs millions. Demand receipts. Make every Republican own the bill for Trump’s show of force.

Closing the Door on Excuses

Don’t let anyone sell this as safety. Don’t let anyone tell you this is about order.

This is about testing authoritarian power in a city built to resist. Memphis is the spark. If it catches fire, every other city is next.

DC was theater. Memphis will be blood. And once the curtain goes up in Memphis… the real show begins.

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Strap in…we have a long ways to go…but go…we will.

Keep your eyes forward…and your grit…gritty.

-Jack