Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that San Francisco could be the next city he targets with federal troops, threatening a deployment that local and state officials have said is unnecessary and unwelcome.
Speaking at the White House to FBI director Kash Patel, the president said: “I’m going to be strongly recommending, at the request of government officials … that you start looking at San Francisco … one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and now it’s a mess … Every American deserves to live in a community where they’re not afraid of being mugged, murdered, robbed, raped, assaulted or shot.”
Just like the federal deployments in Portland, Chicago, Washington DC and Los Angeles earlier this year, the Democratic leaders of San Francisco and California have not requested the kind of crackdown Trump is pushing on the basis of false and hyperbolic claims of out-of-control crime.
San Francisco, the home town of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has for months anticipated that the Bay Area city could end up in the crosshairs of the president. Trump has long complained about the city, saying during his campaign last year that his opponent, Kamala Harris, had “destroyed” it and that it went from being “the best city” to “not even livable”.
Trump has become increasingly invested in sending national guard troops to cities run by Democrats, despite longstanding federal law that widely prohibits the domestic use of US troops to enforce criminal laws. In Chicago and Los Angeles, the deployments of troops coincided with aggressive and at times violent immigration raids, prompting mass protests that were met by a strong show of force by law enforcement.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on potential plans for San Francisco, referring back to the president’s remarks.
San Francisco and California leaders have said they oppose Trump’s intervention and have worked to convey that there is no crisis of crime and violence that requires outside help or a militarized response.
State senator Scott Wiener said in a Wednesday statement that the city “neither needs nor wants Trump’s personal army on our streets”.
“Contrary to Trump’s lie, no ‘government officials’ here have requested federal occupation. We don’t need Trump’s authoritarian crackdown in our city. Bottom line: stay the hell out of San Francisco,” the Democrat said.
Mano Raju, the San Francisco public defender, said in an email that his office “condemns any attempt to deploy military forces against the residents of our city”, noting that courts had already ruled against the president’s national guard deployments.
“Using armed force against civilians is an abuse of power and a misuse of public resources. Our communities are strong, organized, and deeply committed to peaceful civic engagement in the face of injustice – and we will continue to stand with residents exercising their rights lawfully and peacefully,” Raju said.
Newsom’s office said Wednesday that overall violent crime in major California cities was down 12.5% in 2025 compared with last year, with a 22% decrease in San Francisco. From 2019 to 2025, the city saw a 45% decrease in homicides and 40% drop in robberies, the governor added.
The city is on track to have the lowest number of homicides in more than 70 years, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle analysis.
Newsom also said his administration had recently expanded “crime suppression teams” in the San Francisco area, with state officers assisting local agencies in a range of operations.
The governor, embracing his anti-Trump social media trolling strategy, posted the footage of Trump saying San Francisco was great 15 years ago, responding: “Why, thank you!” Newsom was mayor from 2004 through 2010.
Daniel Lurie, the current mayor, spoke alongside the San Francisco sheriff and district attorney earlier on Wednesday, touting declines in crime, increased police recruitment and partnerships with state and federal agencies to combat drug trafficking, the Chronicle reported.
“We have a lot of work to do, but I trust our local law enforcement,” the mayor said, according to the paper. Brooke Jenkins, the district attorney, said San Francisco asks for federal help when it needs it, but that local leaders “have this issue under control”.
Their assertions came days after Marc Benioff, the billionaire CEO of Salesforce, said he was in favor of Trump sending in national guard troops to San Francisco, a comment that sparked intense backlash.
Immigrants rights’ advocates said they were bracing for the potential arrival of troops or escalating enforcement efforts.
Amanda Maya, asylum program director with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, a non-profit, said rapid-response networks in the region, which defend immigrant communities, were making sure they had sufficient capacity to respond to a potential surge in detentions.
“My biggest concern is it creates an environment of fear, not just for those without documentation, but for everyone,” she said, of the potential deployment of troops. “People will be afraid to leave their homes, to go to work, to access essential services.” She said her clients were already avoiding visiting hospitals or going to the police to report crimes due to anxiety about immigration authorities.
Advocates were continuing to hold “know your rights” training sessions, reminding immigrants they should assert their rights to remain silent if they are detained, avoid signing documents and make sure they are in touch with attorneys, Maya said, adding: “We’re definitely preparing.”’
Maya argued that it was particularly “wasteful and irresponsible” to consider deploying troops at a time when the federal government is shut down, leading to cuts in critical services: “This is so unnecessary.”
