California Governor Gavin Newsom called President Trump’s plan to send National Guard troops to San Francisco “laughable,” suggesting the president had to reverse course for “obvious reasons” because “there’s nothing happening” in the city.
“He couldn’t even make up a pretense for this,” Newsom told Robert Costa in an interview airing on “CBS Sunday Morning” this weekend. He cast the city as an urban area that is confronting crime and not ignoring the issue. He highlighted that San Francisco is on track to achieve a 70-year low homicide rate and there’s been an overall decline in violent crimes year over year, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Newsom vowed to swiftly block any future attempts to send in military forces to the city.
“Lawsuit’s ready to go,” said Newsom, adding that the “second he does it, we’ll be in court.” Newsom noted the state has already filed 43 lawsuits against the Trump administration in the nearly 40 weeks since he returned to office.
Mr. Trump said Thursday that he called off his plan to deploy federal agents to the city after speaking with local tech leaders and Mayor Daniel Lurie, who he says asked for “a chance to see if he can turn it around.” Lurie said in a separate statement that he reiterated to Mr. Trump that San Francisco “is on the rise,” and the president agreed to call off the plans.
Newsom also touted the city being the global tech capital and said business is booming.
“I mean, we’re the center of the universe in terms of artificial intelligence. Quite literally the center of the universe in startups and innovation, entrepreneurial. This city’s coming back in a big, big way,” Newsom said.
During the interview, Newsom also discussed such topics as California’s redistricting proposal, which is coming up before voters Nov. 4; Newsom’s social media mocking of the president, and the Democratic Party’s response to Mr. Trump; and what he calls Mr. Trump’s threat of an “imperial presidency.” He also discussed his political future and whether he would consider a 2028 presidential bid.
Watch more of Robert Costa’s interview with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on “CBS Sunday Morning” Sunday, Oct. 26 at 9:00 a.m. ET, and streaming on Paramount+.