Oct. 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump decided not to initiate a “surge” of officials into San Francisco Wednesday night after sending agents to the area.
Mayor Daniel Lurie said he called Trump Wednesday night to talk about it, and the president agreed to back off the plan.
“We have work to do, and we would welcome continued partnerships with the FBI, [Drug Enforcement Administration], [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,] and U.S. attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets, but having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery,” Lurie said in a statement. “We appreciate that the president understands that we are the global hub for technology, and when San Francisco is strong, our country is strong.”
“I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the law does not permit him to remove,” the president posted on Truth Social. “The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject.”
Thursday morning, federal officials arrived at U.S. Coast Guard Base Alameda, and protesters clashed with officials. Activists blocked the bridge to the base.
Trump said he called off the deployment because “friends of mine” called to discuss it. Two of the friends were Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Salesforce’s Mark Benioff, Trump said in his post.
The city’s crime rates are down 30% from 2024, homicide levels are at their lowest levels in 70 years and car break-ins are at their lowest in 22 years, CNBC reported.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened to send federal agents to the city, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would sue the administration.
“We’re going to be fierce, we’re going to be focused in terms of our response,” Newsom said. “Quite literally, this is the lawsuit that I will file within a nanosecond of any effort to send the military to one of America’s great cities, San Francisco.”
On Saturday, Benioff apologized for saying that he welcomed troops to San Francisco.
“We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” Benioff told The New York Times last week, saying he had the pay for several hundred off-duty law enforcement to help patrol the Moscone Center.
But on Friday, he posted on X, “Having listened closely to my fellow San Franciscans and our local officials, and after the largest and safest Dreamforce in our history, I do not believe the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco.”
This is just the latest escalation of Trump’s attacks on American cities. He has sent troops to Washington, D.C., Chicago, Memphis, Portland, Ore., and others.
