Trump says he’s mulling sending National Guard troops to San Francisco: “We are going to make it great”
By Jose Fabian
President Trump on Sunday said he would be sending the National Guard to San Francisco to make it “great again.”
The pledge came during a Sunday interview with Fox News as Mr. Trump was talking about the National Guard in Chicago.
“We’re going to go to San Francisco, and we’re going to make it great,” Mr. Trump responded when asked if he would be sending troops to the Bay Area next. “It won’t be great if it keeps going like this.”
It’s the second time in less than a week Mr. Trump has mentioned National Guard troops possibly being sent to a second California city, following the deployment to Los Angeles in June.
On Oct. 15, in comments directed to FBI Director Kash Patel, Mr. Trump said he was going to be “strongly recommending … that you start looking at San Francisco.”
San Francisco leaders have spoken out against federal intervention in the city several times, saying they had sufficient local resources to maintain law and order.
“We have this issue under control,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins at a recent public safety event. “We need to be allowed to continue the progress that we are making.”
Her comments were in response to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff expressing support for a National Guard presence in San Francisco, a statement he later retracted.
Mayor Daniel Lurie has avoided directly criticizing a possible National Guard deployment, instead highlighting the city’s crime drop and the rise in police recruits.
“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 on Oct. 15.
More recently, on Friday, he highlighted that Dreamforce, a large tech conference, happened with no notable crime reported.
“Crime downtown is down 40%; crime citywide is down 30%,” Lurie said.
On Saturday, he said the large-scale “No Kings” protests were peaceful.
“We appreciate everyone who participated peacefully in today’s demonstration. Thank you to @sf_emergency, @SFPD, @sf_sheriff, @SFFDPIO, @chpsanfrancisco, and our partners for helping keep visitors and San Franciscans safe,” Lurie’s Instagram post said.
Mr. Trump has said there is support for federal intervention among government officials, but he has not said who he is referencing.
“The difference is I think they want us in San Francisco,” the president said on Sunday.
In his Oct. 15 speech, he said the San Francisco recommendation was being made at the “request of government officials.”
In response to the Sunday interview, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office responded on X, saying, “No, we do not.”
Mr. Trump claimed he could use the Insurrection Act to send troops if he encounters legal pushback.
“That’s unquestioned power,” Mr. Trump said. “Our cities that are Democrat-run, exclusively just about, are unsafe cities. They’re a disaster.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has had troops sent to his state, has previously said it wouldn’t be legal for Mr. Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act.
“There has to be an insurrection in order for him to be allowed to invoke it. Again, he can say anything he wants. But if the Constitution means anything — and I guess we are all questioning that right now, but the courts will make the determination — if the Constitution means anything, the Insurrection Act cannot be invoked to send them in because they want to fight crime,” Pritzker said on ABC News’ “This Week.”
