San Francisco officials have rejected President Donald Trump‘s calls to send the National Guard to the Californian city.

Officials including a state Senator and California Governor Gavin Newsom have challenged the idea of deploying federal troops to the area after Trump called San Francisco “a mess” at a Wednesday press conference and said unspecified officials had requested troops.

Newsweek reached out to the White House to comment on this story outside of normal business hours.

Why It Matters

Since returning to office in January, Trump has authorized the use of federal troops in several U.S. cities—including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., which he said had “become one of the most dangerous cities in the World.”

While the president has argued that the troops are needed to stop violence, critics say he is exceeding his executive authority to illegally target Democratic-run areas.

Extending the use of the National Guard to another city will raise further questions about the use of his power. That Trump has repeatedly clashed with Newsom, a Democrat, over the last few months in a tit-for-tat social media war, will only raise further questions about the president’s motives, though he has said he wants to stamp out crime in the city,

What To Know

Speaking at the White House alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, Trump said that he would be “strongly recommending” sending the National Guard to San Francisco “at the request of government officials.”

“Every American deserves to live in a community where they’re not afraid of being mugged, murdered, robbed, raped, assaulted or shot,” he added. Trump

His remarks sparked a backlash from Democrat officials.

“California will resist any effort by Donald Trump to militarize another American city for his own vanity and deranged fantasies,” Newsom spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayo said in a statement to Politico. “California doesn’t want or need the National Guard to police its streets. In this state, we take care of our own communities—unlike Trump who can’t even pay the soldiers under his command.”

Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener, whose district covers the city, said on X: “San Francisco neither needs nor wants Trump’s personal army on our streets. Contrary to Trump’s lie, no ‘government officials’ here have requested federal occupation. We don’t need Trump’s authoritarian crackdown in our city. Bottom line: Stay the hell out of San Francisco.”

While Trump has said there is crime in the city, Newsom’s office said in a Wednesday release that overall violent crime in San Francisco had decreased by 22 percent in the last year. The office also said that from 2019 to 2025, the city saw a 45 percent decrease in homicides and a 40 percent drop in robberies.

Scott Lucas, who teaches international politics at University College Dublin told Newsweek Trump had made the statement because he wants to be “an authoritarian tough guy” and San Francisco was just one of many cities he might target. He added that “he makes the deployment of U.S. military on the streets normal” to “break down the U.S. system.”

Despite the criticism, some figures have backed the use of federal troops in San Francisco. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told the New York Times last week: “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it.” He added: “I fully support the president.”

Writing on X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also said using troops in San Francisco was “the only solution.”

“Nothing else has or will work,” he added.

What People Are Saying

Speaking at a press conference, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said: ““We have a lot of work to do, but I trust our local law enforcement. We in San Francisco are doing the work each and every day, and I will continue to do the work 365 days a year alongside these great law enforcement partners that we have.”

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether Trump will send federal troops to San Francisco.

The president has also tried to send National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, thought these efforts have run into legal difficulty.