California is prepared to take swift legal action if President Donald Trump attempts to send troops to San Francisco.
Gavin Newsom is now turning up the heat, launching a full-scale attack on Trump with a fiery warning.
The Trump administration recently sent National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, prompting protests and legal challenges.
Over the weekend, Trump reiterated his intention to deploy forces to San Francisco, telling Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, “the difference is I think they want us in San Francisco.” According to the President, the city is ”a mess” and on his target list.
“San Francisco was truly one of the great cities in the world, and then 15 years ago, it went woke,” Trump said.
Looking at the numbers, San Francisco seems to be doing better than it has in years. Evidence continues to mount that the city is experiencing a post-pandemic resurgence, much of it driven by the booming AI industry.
According to CNBC, crime has dropped significantly — overall rates are down 30% from 2024, homicides are at their lowest in 70 years, and car break-ins haven’t been this rare in 22 years. At the same time, the city is seeing a rebound in event bookings and tourism, housing is becoming harder to find, and the office market is picking up.
”This wannabe tyrant”
Gavin Newsom, who served as San Francisco’s mayor from 2004 to 2011, has been vocal in opposing any National Guard deployment, insisting it is unnecessary.
”We don’t bow to kings, and we’re standing up to this wannabe tyrant,” Newsom wrote in a statement.
“The notion that the federal government can deploy troops into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no oversight, no accountability, no respect for state sovereignty — it’s a direct assault on the rule of law.”
Other city leaders, including Mayor Daniel Lurie and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, have also rejected the idea.
Lurie acknowledged that fentanyl is the city’s biggest street-level problem but insisted that deploying military troops would not be a solution.
“Let me be clear — no local or elected San Francisco leaders want the National Guard deployed to San Francisco at the direction of the Trump Administration,” Jenkins said Monday.
Federal law prevents National Guard members from acting as local police.
The city leaders have pointed out that even if troops were deployed, they could not investigate crimes or arrest suspects, contrary to Trump’s suggestions.
Already pursuing a lawsuit
According to San Fransisco Chronicle, the controversy intensified after Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff suggested the National Guard could serve as police in San Francisco.
His comments sparked backlash, and Benioff later issued a public apology.
Newsom is joined by a chorus of California officials, including Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, all vowing legal action if Trump moves forward.
The governor is already pursuing a lawsuit aimed at ending the federalization of California National Guard troops, which began in June amid protests over Trump’s mass deportation policies in Los Angeles. Initially, Trump federalized roughly 4,000 members of the California National Guard — about a third of the active force.
Most have returned to state control, but about 300 remain federalized. Some were sent to Portland, Oregon, where a Trump-appointed judge blocked their deployment on the streets, and 14 were sent to Chicago for training purposes.
At a Board of Supervisors hearing Tuesday, Mayor Lurie said he has organized a team of public safety leaders, city attorney representatives, and other department heads to coordinate the city’s response to any potential federal action.
“We’ve been thinking about the possibility of the National Guard being deployed to San Francisco since the first day of my term,” Lurie said.
