President Donald Trump has shared damning “before and now” footage of San Francisco, contrasting its purported golden past with its apocalyptic present under Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The short clip featured a split-screen display of city street life, with the top half displaying pre-war San Fran and the bottom half showing recent footage of strung-out junkies and crime.
President Donald Trump shared footage of San Francisco on his Truth Social on Sunday. X/@TrumpDailyPosts
It was shared by the president on his Truth Social page Sunday evening, quickly racking up 10,000s of likes and “retruths.”
It isn’t clear exactly when the “before” footage of San Francisco was filmed.
The clip was accompanied by a distorted, pitch-altered rendition of the 1967 hippy classic, “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” by Scott McKenzie, evoking the city’s “Summer of Love” heyday.
The clip featured a split-screen display of city street life, with the top half displaying pre-war San Fran and the bottom half showing recent footage of strung-out junkies and crime. X/@TrumpDailyPosts
Trump has frequently condemned the Democrats’ mismanagement of San Francisco, describing it as formerly “one of the best cities in the world” during the 2024 election campaign.
“You can’t go into San Francisco. It’s not livable. Fifteen years ago, it was the best city in the country, one of the best cities in the world, and now you can’t do anything,” the then-Republican candidate told reporters at an event in Arizona in August 2024.
It isn’t clear exactly when the “before” footage of San Francisco was filmed. X/@TrumpDailyPosts
The clip was accompanied by a distorted rendition of the 1967 classic, “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).” X/@TrumpDailyPosts
He also condemned Gov. Newsom as “grossly incompetent” regarding his handling of California’s — and more specifically — San Francisco’s so-called doom loop of urban decay, business closures and declining tax revenues.
“I knew Gavin for four years. I got along great with him. But he’s gone radical left,” Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham during a November 2025 interview, also laying into the botched California High Speed Rail project meant to connect LA with San Francisco.
“You know, he’s building a train system from San Francisco to LA that’s got about a 2,000 or 3,000% cost overrun. It’s the worst thing I’ve [ever seen]. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump added.
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