Amid Benioff, Trump remarks, San Francisco city leaders say federal intervention is not needed

By Jose Fabian

Before President Donald Trump said San Francisco should be considered for the next group of “great cities that can be fixed,” city leaders had already spoken at an event saying federal intervention is not needed.

Trump’s comments on San Francisco were made to FBI Director Kash Patel after Trump mentioned Chicago, where National Guard troops were deployed.

“The people in Chicago and the people in places like that that can be fixed, at some point, it gets to where you can’t fix it anymore,” Trump said. “But these are great cities that can be fixed. I’m going to be strongly recommending at the request of government officials, which is always nice, that you start looking at San Francisco … So, I’d like to recommend that for inclusion maybe in your next group.”

Before Trump made those comments, Mayor Daniel Lurie and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins had held an event speaking about public safety and the increase in police recruits.

It was there that the topic of federal intervention was brought up due to remarks Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently made supporting National Guard deployment in the city. He later walked back that statement on Sunday, saying that his comments were more about the city’s police shortage.

Lurie said he had spoken to Benioff and shared part of what he had told him.

“We are working relentlessly every day and that public safety is our number one priority. We have issues, and we’re addressing it by our Rebuilding the Ranks program,” Lurie said.

Jenkins echoed Lurie and doubled down on statements that the city is committed to public safety, but she spoke more directly about federal intervention.

“There is no question that when we need the addition of state or federal resources, that we have no problem seeking the assistance that we need. But we have this issue under control,” Jenkins said. “We need to be allowed to continue the progress that we are making.”

Currently, the city is hosting the annual Dreamforce conference, which draws thousands of people to the city. 

“I am now focused on what I can control and what we can control, and that is when we have conferences in town with 45,000 people that they are safe and having a great time,” Lurie said.

It’s not clear who Trump was referencing when he said he would be recommending San Francisco “at the request of government officials.” But as for when San Francisco was great, Trump said it was one of the country’s great cities 10 to 15 years ago.

The mayors of San Francisco at that time were Ed Lee in 2015 and current California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2010.