Trump threatens to send National Guard to San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - President Donald Trump on Friday hinted that he may send the National Guard to San Francisco, claiming Democrats have turned the city into a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

Trump wants to ‘clean up’ San Francisco

What they're saying:

Trump has repeatedly targeted Democratic-led cities, accusing them of being crime-ridden. He has already deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and has floated the possibility of sending troops to Chicago, New York, and Oakland. Now San Francisco.

"Look at what the Democrats have done to San Francisco. They’ve destroyed it. We could clean that up, too. We’ll clean that one up, too," Trump told reporters during remarks from the Oval Office.

San Francisco mayor says he has it under control

Dig deeper:

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie rejected Trump’s remarks, saying the city is seeing progress on public safety.

"My administration has made safe and clean streets our top priority, and the results are clear: Crime is at its lowest point in decades, visitors are coming back, and San Francisco is on the rise," Lurie said. "And we’re going to keep working every day to build on that progress."

The San Francisco Police Officers Association said what Trump is trying to do is a "distraction."

"The last thing San Francisco needs is the National Guard and these distractions by the President are unwanted and not helpful," said Officer Louis Wong, of the San Francisco POA.

In Oakland, Mayor Barbara Lee has also dismissed Trump’s earlier threats, pointing to data that shows violent crime trending down.

Legal experts say the president would face an uphill battle deploying the guard outside D.C., which is a federal district.

"It’s harder to see a legal path in these other places," said David Levine, a professor at UC Law San Francisco."If he wanted to declare an emergency in, let’s say, Illinois, he would need the governor to go along. I think he would get much pushback if he were to try this in Oakland."

Civil rights attorney Adante Pointer wasn't surprised by Trump's rhetoric or approach.

"This is par for the course for Trump," Pointer previously said. "He continues to target and distort the facts as it relates to crime in American cities, particularly those in blue states run by Black mayors. His administration consistently tries to undermine these Black mayors and indulge followers’ belief that Black leadership is incompetent and unworthy, and that their accomplishments are not based on merit or are somehow by DEI initiative. The facts are these mayors were democratically elected and have led their cities to significant drops in crime."

Local reaction

Some residents said they were frustrated by what they viewed as a mischaracterization of their city.

"Any kind of military enforcement or outside force - we need none of that," said Megan Doherty-Baker, a third-generation San Franciscan. "That would be absolutely opposite of the spirit of the city, what this place is about, where we need to be heading. And the narrative that’s been built that this is an unsafe place or that this is a place that needs any kind of intervention is just absolutely false."

According to the San Francisco Police Department, violent and property crimes are down nearly 30% so far this year compared to the same period in 2024.

Other residents echoed the sentiment that the city is becoming safer and cleaner.

"I think this is one of the safest places. I don’t feel unsafe at all when I walk around and definitely don’t think we need the National Guard here," said Edwin Williams. "I feel like that would be a ton of waste of resources."

Andrea Selba, lives in the East Bay, and was enjoying Fridays on Front Street, a free block party downtown. 

"Right now I feel safe. I’ve worked in the city for 25 years. I feel as safe today as I always have. Coming back after COVID, I have noticed cleaner streets."