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President Trump is visiting Memphis on Monday to tout the success of the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF). With war still raging in Iran, gas prices surging, and polls showing public dissatisfaction with the conflict, the reason for the visit is obvious. The administration needs a win and respite from the issues driving down the President’s approval ratings.

Yet, the more interesting story is how Memphis Mayor Paul Young has dealt with the infusion of law enforcement and the National Guard from federal and state Republican officials while attempting to remain true to his progressive base. In an interview last week on the 1600 podcast and in a subsequent article in Newsweek, Young, who was elected with less than 30% of the vote in 2023, made the case that cooperating with Republican governor Bill Lee and the Trump administration was in the best interest of the city and his constituents.

"I am in a different position," Young said. "I have a Republican governor who I also have a good relationship with, but he's on a whole different side of the aisle, and I understand that my posture can directly impact the resources that my city is able to receive."

Young, not known for being dynamic or charismatic on the stump, is intellectual, steady, and exudes quiet confidence. He tends to let the data do the talking, and in relation to the decline in crime, the data screams that the community is safer after a 41% reduction in overall crime and a 30% drop in homicides. It is worth noting that crime was already declining in the city before the infusion of the Memphis Safe Task Force and the National Guard.

Mayor Young’s pragmatic approach to working with the GOP supermajority in Nashville and the Trump Administration has resulted in both additional law enforcement resources through the MSTF, as well as an $80 million line item in the governor’s budget to enhance public safety downtown and implement crime intervention and prevention strategies.

But not everyone is happy.

The tactics of ICE in the community have been well-documented by the Institute for Public Service Reporting at The University of Memphis. While Young says on the 1600 podcast that he and Memphis Police Department Director C. J. Davis have focused ICE on serving warrants on criminal fugitives, the reporting from multiple sources and video from local activists show ICE engaging in aggressive and possibly illegal tactics seen in other parts of the country.

In contrast to Mayor Young, progressive County Mayor Lee Harris has been outspoken in his opposition to the National Guard and sued the Governor over what he believes is an unconstitutional deployment. Harris and fellow plaintiffs won at the Chancery Court level in Nashville, but now the issue is before the state Appeals Court. No one who has followed Harris’ career doubts his sincerity or his progressive bona fides. However, Harris is term-limited and can leave behind hard feelings from the state for the next County Mayor to soothe.

Conversely, Mayor Young is up for re-election in less than 18 months. This time around, 28% of the vote won’t be enough to win. In the same year Young was elected, Memphis voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the City Charter requiring runoffs if no candidate receives a majority in the general election. That means Young will need almost twice the percentage he received in 2023 to keep his position.

A decline in crime is a win for the community, but often those proclaiming it the loudest don’t live within the city limits and cannot cast a vote for Young. If he takes the stage with Trump on Monday or if he greets him in the receiving line on the tarmac, those photos will become campaign fodder for his opponents in an overwhelmingly blue city.

The host of the 1600 podcast and Newsweek political editor, Carlo Versano, labeled Young’s approach a “blueprint for blue city mayors in red states.” As a means of securing mostly positive outcomes to major problems in a city, Versano may be right. What remains to be seen, however, is whether Mayor Young can translate his style of governing to reelection. Of course, without reelection, the style of governing and its subsequent results are rendered moot.