Trump claims ‘unquestioned power’ in vow to send troops to San Francisco

Donald Trump has again pledged to send troops to San Francisco, claiming in a Fox News interview he has “unquestioned power” to deploy the national guard and that residents want the military in their city.

“We’re gonna go to San Francisco. The difference is I think they want us in San Francisco,” Trump said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo.

His comments came after tech billionaires including Elon Musk, David Sacks, a major Trump donor who the president appointed to serve as his AI and crypto czar, and Marc Benioff, the Salesforce chief executive, expressed support for a deployment in the city. Sacks argued a “targeted operation” could quickly clean up San Francisco while Benioff suggested troops could help with policing duties. Benioff later apologized for his stance after facing backlash, and said he no longer thought troops were necessary.

Since ordering controversial deployments to Los Angeles and Washington DC, Trump has sought to send the military to other Democratic-run cities, including Chicago and Portland. His efforts have been met with fierce pushback, protests and legal challenges.

In September, a judge found that Trump’s move to dispatch the military to accompany authorities on immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles violated federal law. The deployment of federal troops in Portland has been placed on hold after a federal judge issued an injunction.

Still, in recent weeks the president has continued to suggest he would deploy troops to San Francisco. Trump said he can use the “unquestioned power” of the Insurrection Act to order a deployment.

“Don’t forget: I can use the Insurrection Act,” he said.

The Insurrection Act is a US federal law that gives the president the power to deploy the military or federalize national guard troops inside the country to quell domestic uprisings. It enables troops to take part in domestic law enforcement activities such as making arrests and performing searches. The act has been invoked on dozens of occasions, including during the civil rights movement in the 1960s to protect activists and students, and to respond to riots in Los Angeles in 1992.

San Francisco leaders have been preparing for months for Trump’s threats, as the city has long been in the president’s crosshairs. In his first administration, he frequently derided the city’s homelessness crisis, and repeatedly threatened intervention. During the 2020 presidential campaign, he said his opponent, Kamala Harris, had “destroyed” the city, and that it had gone from being “the best city” to “not even livable”.

Trump repeated that argument over the weekend: “San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world and then 15 years ago it went wrong. It went woke.”

Local leaders, including the city’s mayor and district attorney, have said crime in the city is under control, pointing to falling crime rates and growing police recruitment. The city’s homicide rate this year is expected to be the lowest since 1954, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“We are working closely with the appropriate state and federal enforcement agencies every day to keep our city safe,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie. “And that coordination is delivering results for San Francisco.”

In an interview with KTVU, Scott Wiener, a state senator, said San Francisco did not want Trump to send troops to the city, despite the president’s comments.

“First of all, San Franciscans don’t want him to send his personal army to occupy and invade San Francisco. We don’t want that. So he needs to go away, back off,” he said. “But we also know that he hates San Francisco, he hates what we represent because we support immigrants, we support LGBTQ people.”