In an interview that aired Sunday morning on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures,” President Trump underscored his plan to send federal troops to San Francisco.
“We’re going to go to San Francisco — the difference is I think they want us in San Francisco,” he told the journalist Maria Bartiromo as they sat in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing.
“San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world. And then 15 years ago it went wrong, it went woke,” he said. He added that, “We’re going to make it great.”
Mr. Trump publicly toyed with the idea last week, but his latest remarks were perhaps the most explicit signal yet of his intentions. It was not clear whether Mr. Trump had mobilized any troops to be sent to San Francisco.
The talk about deploying the National Guard to the city came as troops have been sent to other areas where Mr. Trump has said that crime is out of control, an assertion leaders in those cities disputed. Such a move would likely further increase the tension between Mr. Trump and San Francisco leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who have made clear their disdain for federal troops patrolling their streets.
Marc Benioff, the founder of the tech giant Salesforce, roiled the city when he told The Times that he thought Guard troops should be sent to his hometown.
“We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” he said, as he prepared for his annual Dreamforce conference that would bring nearly 50,000 people to the downtown area.
Mr. Benioff apologized for those remarks after city leaders lambasted him for making them. He said Friday that he no longer believed troops were necessary.
Daniel Lurie, the mayor of San Francisco, who has tried to avoid directly confronting Mr. Trump or acknowledging statements about him, noted that crime was down and homicides were at a historic low at a news conference on Friday.
“This united front of public safety leaders and city leaders behind me is keeping San Francisco safe every day,” he said. “That is my No. 1 job as mayor, and this team right here is getting it done.”
Mr. Lurie added that the Dreamforce conference, which concluded on Thursday, had ended in a “public safety success.”
Last week, Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, weighed in.
“San Francisco does not want or need Donald Trump’s chaos,” she said in a statement. “Our city takes great pride in the steps we’ve taken to significantly increase public safety and reduce crime in partnership with community and state officials — without the interference of a president seeking headlines.”
The day before Ms. Pelosi’s comment, Mr. Newsom posted a retort of his own on X, accompanied by a video clip in which Mr. Trump speaks highly of the San Francisco of the past.
“TRUMP: San Francisco was a great city 15 years ago,” Mr. Newsom’s post read. “ME: Why, thank you!”
Corina Knoll is a Times correspondent focusing on feature stories.
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