California Governor Gavin Newsom shut down President Donald Trump's claim that the people of San Francisco "want" the National Guard there as the Trump administration's immigration crackdown continues.
In a Fox News interview, Trump said "I think they want us in San Francisco," contrasting this claim with ongoing ICE operations in Chicago, where citizens have clashed with immigration agents over the last several weeks.
Trump told anchor Maria Bartiromo:
"San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world, and then 15 years ago it went wrong, it went woke. Remember my statement? Anything woke is broke, is filthy ..."
"But it's true, we're going to go to San Francisco and we're going to make it great. San Francisco is a great city. It won't be great if it keeps going like this."
Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by "if it [San Francisco] keeps going like this" but Newsom, who served as mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011, wasn't having it, replying with the following on X:
"Fact check: Nobody wants you here. You will ruin one of America's greatest cities."
You can see Newsom's response and hear what Trump said in the video Newsom shared below.
Others joined Newsom in pushing back against Trump's latest effort to encroach on liberal cities.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who has largely avoided directly addressing or responding to Trump’s remarks about him, emphasized at a Friday news conference that the city’s crime rates were falling and homicides had reached a historic low.
Lurie, referring to his team, said “This united front of public safety leaders and city leaders behind me is keeping San Francisco safe every day," emphasizing that it was "a public safety success."
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi also stressed that San Francisco "does not want or need Donald Trump’s chaos," adding that San Francisco "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.”
