President Donald Trump said the head of a railroad company suggested sending the National Guard to St. Louis.

Trump announced Friday he would send the National Guard to Memphis to address crime during an interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends." He said he had chosen Memphis because it was suggested by Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena.

Trump said when he asked Vena where else he should send Guard members, Vena said St. Louis.

“I said to him: ‘Where else should we go? Where would you say,’” Trump said. “He said, ‘Sir, please, do me a favor. St. Louis has been so badly hit. It’s very hard. Very very hard.’”

A spokesperson for Union Pacific declined to comment on the specifics of the conversation but said Vena and the president discussed the creation of a transcontinental railroad during a recent

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