Trump says conversations with billionaires Benioff and Hwang led him to back off sending the National Guard to San Francisco
president Donald Trump He said on Thursday that he was backing away from the planned increase in Federal agents to San Francisco To suppress crime after talking to the mayor and several prominent businessmen who said they are working hard to clean up the city.
Trump was threatening to send the National Guard to San Francisco, a move that Mayor Daniel Lurie and Governor Gavin Newsom said was unnecessary because crime is declining. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began arriving at a Coast Guard base in the area earlier Thursday for a possible ramp-up of immigration enforcement, a move that attracted several hundred protesters.
It was not clear whether the president had canceled or canceled the National Guard deployment Immigration enforcement By CBP agents. In his press conference, Lurie said he couldn’t explain and could only repeat what the president told him. Homeland Security Secretary Lurie said Kristi Noem Trump “confirmed” Trump’s commitment Thursday morning. The Department of Homeland Security oversees CBP agents as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The federal government was preparing for a ‘surge’ in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but my friends who live in the area called me last night to ask me not to go ahead with the surge,” Trump wrote on social media. “I spoke with Mayor Lowry last night and he asked, very kindly, that I give him a chance to see if he could turn the situation around.”
Specifically, Trump said he heard from him Sales force CEO Marc Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. He said the federal government could handle crime better than city leaders, and noted he could still send agents in the future.
At an afternoon news conference, Lowery said he welcomed the city’s “continued partnership” with the DEA and other federal authorities to keep illicit drugs off the streets and contribute to San Francisco’s declining crime rates.
“But the presence of militarized and military immigration enforcement forces in our city will hinder our recovery,” the mayor said. Trump’s assertions about out-of-control crimes in the city with a population of about 830,000 have baffled local and state leaders, who point to statistics showing that many crimes have reached record levels.
“Trump has finally, for once, listened to reason — and listened to what we’ve been saying from the beginning,” Newsom’s office told Channel X. “The Bay Area is a shining example of what makes California so special, and any attempt to undermine the progress we’ve made would hurt the work we’ve done.”
The demonstrators gathered immediately after dawn Coast Guard Island in Alameda, CaliforniaCustoms and Border Protection agents were arriving before Trump made his remarks. Several hundred people stood outside the facility, many singing carols and carrying signs that said: “Protect our neighbors” and “No ice or troops in the bay.”
Police used at least one grenade to clear a handful of protesters from the entrance as Customs and Border Protection vehicles headed toward the base. Organizers urged protesters to remain peaceful, while a line of Coast Guard officers wearing helmets watched from just outside the entrance.
Protester Gala King participated in an interfaith vigil against federal oppression 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 religious traditions, our interfaith traditions, call us to stand for justice, to stand with the people who are most marginalized, most targeted at the moment.”
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 identification cards are required for visitors. The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump has deployed the Guard Washington, DCand Memphis, TennesseeTo help fight what he says is rampant crime. Los Angeles was the first city where Trump deployed the Guard, arguing that it was necessary to protect federal buildings and agents as protesters resisted immigration arrests.
He also said they needed it chicago and PortlandOregon. Lawsuits have been filed from Democratic officials in both cities so far Banned forces From taking to the city streets.
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Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mathis in Nashville, Tennessee, and Janie Harr in San Francisco contributed.
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