President Donald Trump said he is calling off plans to authorize a deployment of National Guard troops to San Francisco after a series of clarifying phone calls Wednesday night with Mayor Daniel Lurie and technology industry leaders.
“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around…They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”
In the post, Trump said he spoke with “friends” Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, and Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, who were among the “great people” who urged him not to deploy the National Guard.
“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 move,” Trump said. “I told him, ‘It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer, but let’s see how you do?’”
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Laurie posted on X on Thursday that he spoke with Trump after talking with residents about their feelings toward a potential federal deployment.
“Late last night, I received a phone call from the President of the United States. I told him the same thing I told our residents: San Francisco is on the rise,” Laurie posted. “In that conversation, the president told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reaffirmed that direction in our conversation this morning.”
Lurie also reiterated past statements that he would “welcome” partnerships with federal agencies, including the “FBI, DEA, ATF, 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.”
Speaking from the White House on Thursday, Trump said he spoke with four to five business professionals with companies based in the San Francisco area who asked him to “hold off the surge.”
“That would be the greatest,” Trump said about local officials’ appeal to handle their own law enforcement.
In a statement, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, praised Laurie for demonstrating “exceptional leadership.”
“In his handling of a potential federal deployment in our city that resulted in the President calling off the operation, Mayor Lurie has underscored that public safety must be driven by local priorities, respectful of our values and communities,” Pelosi said in the statement. “I salute Mayor Lurie for standing up for our City and reinforcing San Francisco’s strength, optimism and recovery.”
Trump has toyed with deploying National Guard troops into San Francisco since this summer, and at least 100 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents to the Bay Area were deployed to the Bay Area Wednesday night.
By Thursday morning, protesters gathered at the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Alameda, and at least two people were reported injured after federal forces used a flash-bang to drive its convoy onto the island.
Throughout October, Trump has attempted to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon. When federal judges temporarily paused those deployments, the administration tried to send federalized troops from Texas and California.
In D.C., troops have been instructed to “winterize” and prepare for a “long term persistent presence” that could stretch through next summer’s “America 250” celebration to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary.
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