President Donald Trump said he decided to send troops into Memphis after Union Pacific’s CEO Jim Vena, who used to regularly visit the Tennessee city when he served on the board of FedEx, urged him earlier this week to address crime in the city.
Vena was in the Oval Office to pitch the benefits of Union Pacific’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern, but Trump said he asked Vena’s advice about where the administration should go next to “straighten out crime in the cities.” He said Vena told him Memphis would be good because FedEx wouldn’t even let him walk one block in the city to his hotel and insisted he take an armored vehicle.
The railroad said that Vena focused in the meeting on the potential benefits of creating the first coast-to-coast railroad that would speed up cargo delivery. But Union Pacific said Vena and Trump “also addressed the safety and security of all Americans, and that we regularly collaborate with communities to keep our employees and customers’ cargo safe.”
Trump said in the interview on Fox News that Vena also recommended that he address crime in St. Louis and Chicago.