Trump backs off planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco after
talking to the mayor
[October 24, 2025]
By TERRY CHEA and CHRISTOPHER WEBER
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s
backing off a planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco to
quell crime after speaking to the mayor and several prominent business
leaders who said they're working hard to clean up the city.
Trump had been threatening to send the National Guard to San Francisco,
a move Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom said was unnecessary
because crime is on the decline. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection agents began arriving at a Coast Guard base in the region
earlier Thursday for a possible ramp up of immigration enforcement, a
move that drew several hundred protesters.
It was not clear if the president was canceling a National Guard
deployment or calling off immigration enforcement by CBP agents. At his
news conference, Lurie said he could not clarify and could only repeat
what the president had told him. Lurie said Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem “reaffirmed" Trump's commitment on Thursday morning. DHS
oversees CBP agents as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco,
California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called
last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge," Trump posted on
social media. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very
nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.”
Specifically, Trump said he heard from Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff and
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. He said the federal government could handle
crime better than city leaders, and he indicated he could still send
agents in the future.
At an afternoon news conference, Lurie said he welcomes the city’s
“continued partnership” with the Drug Enforcement Agency and other
federal authorities to get illegal narcotics off the streets and
contribute to San Francisco’s falling crime rates.
“But having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our
city will hinder our recovery,” the mayor said. Trump’s assertions of
out-of-control crime in the city of roughly 830,000 have baffled local
and state leaders, who point to statistics showing that many crimes are
at record lows.
Newsom’s office said on X: “Trump has finally, for once, listened to
reason — and heard what we have been saying from the beginning. The Bay
Area is a shining example of what makes California so special, and any
attempt to erode our progress would damage the work we’ve done.”
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Protesters and vehicles block the entrance to Coast Guard Base
Alameda shortly after a caravan of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection personnel arrived on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Oakland,
Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Protesters assembled just after dawn at Coast Guard Island in
Alameda, California, where CBP agents were arriving before Trump
made his remarks. Several hundred people stood outside the facility,
with many singing hymns and carrying signs saying, “Protect our
neighbors” and “No ICE or troops in the Bay."
Police used at least one flash-bang grenade to clear a handful of
demonstrators from the entrance as CBP vehicles drove onto the base.
Organizers urged protesters to remain peaceful, as a line of Coast
Guard officers in helmets watched from just outside the entrance.
Protester Gala King participated in an interfaith vigil against the
federal crackdown and in support of immigrants.
“The Bay Area is a beautiful place full of diversity, and we are
here to protect that,” King said. “Our faith traditions, our
interfaith traditions, call on us to stand on the side of justice,
to stand on the side of those that are most marginalized, that are
most targeted right now."
Coast Guard Island is an artificial island formed in 1913, and the
Coast Guard first established a base there in 1926. The island is
owned by the federal government and is not open to the general
public, so escorts or specific government ID cards are required for
visitors. The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland
Security.
Trump has deployed the Guard to Washington, D.C., and Memphis,
Tennessee, to help fight what he says is rampant crime. Los Angeles
was the first city where Trump deployed the Guard, arguing it was
necessary to protect federal buildings and agents as protesters
fought back against immigration arrests.
He has also said they are needed in Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
Lawsuits from Democratic officials in both cities have so far
blocked troops from going onto city streets.
___
Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists
Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Janie Har in San
Francisco contributed.
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