--- title: When the National Guard Was Sent to San Francisco description: Trump's stated intention to send troops to the city would break with past deployments there in a notable way. canonical: https://time.com/7327207/national-guard-san-francisco-trump/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-21T10:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:26:19.427Z article:section: Politics og:title: When the National Guard Was Sent to SF og:description: Trump's stated intention to send troops to the city would break with past deployments there in a notable way. og:url: https://time.com/7327207/national-guard-san-francisco-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2817903225cd3afc/6998caea25f3ee51f86451c0/Trump-SF-Troops.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Hosts Australian Prime Minister Albanese og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When the National Guard Was Sent to SF twitter:description: Trump's stated intention to send troops to the city would break with past deployments there in a notable way. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2817903225cd3afc/6998caea25f3ee51f86451c0/Trump-SF-Troops.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When the National Guard Was Sent to San Francisco—and How Trump’s Proposal Breaks With Past Deployments > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Oct 21, 2025 10:00 AM UTC  President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20. President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20. Yuri Gripas—Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Oct 21, 2025 10:00 AM UTC President Donald Trump is doubling down on his intention to [deploy](https://time.com/7321940/hegseth-trump-generals-meeting/) National Guard troops to San Francisco, claiming that people in the city “want” it. “We’re going to go to San Francisco—the difference is I think they want us in San Francisco,” he said on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures,” which aired 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,” Trump continued. “We’re going to go to San Francisco, and we’re going to make it great.” The President has [deployed](https://time.com/7323373/trump-chicago-national-guard-troops/) or suggested deploying federal troops to several other cities since returning to office in January. He hasn’t yet sent troops to San Francisco during either of his terms, and California officials are pushing back on the idea of a potential deployment there now. The National Guard has previously been deployed in the Northern California city multiple times, including once under the state’s current governor, Gavin Newsom. But if the President follows through on his stated intention, he would likely be breaking with those past instances by sending in the Guard against local officials’ wishes. Here’s what to know about Trump’s latest remarks about San Francisco and the past National Guard deployments in the city. ## **How are local officials responding to Trump’s remarks?** Trump’s recent comments about deploying troops to San Francisco generated backlash from California officials. On Sunday, Newsom [posted](https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1979984272254812552) on X, “Fact check: Nobody wants you here. You will ruin one of America’s greatest cities.” Last week, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also pushed back on Trump’s previous claims about the city. “San Francisco does not want or need Donald Trump’s chaos,” she [said](https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-statement-threats-national-guard-deployment-san-francisco) 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.” Trump has already sent the National Guard to California this year: Over the summer, he [deployed](https://time.com/7292433/trump-national-guard-la-protests/) troops to Los Angeles, after protests over immigration raids broke out in the city. Local officials, including [Newsom](https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1931840646773715068), condemned the President’s actions. Last month, a federal judge [ruled](https://time.com/7313929/trump-national-guard-la-los-angeles-marines-judge-ruling/) that the deployment violated a longstanding federal law. ## **What does data reveal about crime in San Francisco?** Earlier this month, Trump [called](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-20/trump-again-says-he-wants-to-send-troops-to-san-francisco) San Francisco a “mess,” and suggested that he would deploy troops there. He has made similar comments about a number of other cities led by Democrats, including [Memphis](https://time.com/7316744/memphis-national-guard-trump-crime-crackdown/?itm%5Fsource=parsely-api) and [Portland](https://time.com/7322038/trump-portland-ice-protests-crime/), claiming that they aren’t safe. Data show that crime in San Francisco, as in a number of other U.S. cities, has already been dropping. Overall crime in the city has gone down about 26% so far this year compared to the same period in 2024, according to [city police data](https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crime-dashboard). Homicides, for instance, have dropped by about 12%, and rapes have gone down by nearly 17%. Robberies and burglaries have gone down about 23% and 28%, respectively. Mayor Daniel Lurie [said](https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-luries-statement-on-declines-in-homicides-and-overdose-deaths) in a statement last week that crime is “at its lowest point in decades,” with homicides at 70-year lows. Marc Benioff, the founder of the tech company Salesforce and co-chair and owner of TIME, sparked controversy when he [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/us/marc-benioff-san-francisco-guard.html) earlier this month that he believed the President should send federal troops to the city to help combat crime. He has since apologized for those comments. “I do not believe the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco," he [said](https://x.com/Benioff/status/1979276817396830411) on X on Friday. “I sincerely apologize for the concern it caused.” ## **When have troops been deployed to San Francisco in the past?** National Guard troops have been deployed to the Northern California city several times over the years—but at the request of or with the approval of local leaders. In April 1906, an earthquake struck San Francisco, sparking a series of fires that destroyed more than 500 blocks in the center of the city. At the request of the then-mayor, troops who were stationed in the city [responded](https://www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/upload/sb-1906-earthquake.pdf) to the crisis, though the deployment sparked controversy, particularly over troops’ use of force against suspected looters. Nearly three decades later, troops were [deployed](https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/When-S-F-waterfront-was-scene-of-bloody-riots-5601244.php) to the city again when waterfront workers went on strike. Riots broke out as the workers on strike clashed with local law enforcement. Two people were killed by officers and more than 100 others were wounded. The California governor at the time requested the National Guard. On Sept. 27, 1966, a white San Francisco police officer shot and killed Matthew Johnson, an unarmed Black teenager who was fleeing from the site of a car theft. Protests broke out in response to the shooting, and the then-governor [deployed](http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/The-SF-riots-that-brought-out-the-National-Guard-9517807.php) the National Guard for several days in response to the unrest. In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake [struck](https://www.nist.gov/el/earthquake-loma-prieta-california-1989) the Bay Area, killing dozens of people and injuring thousands. The National Guard was [deployed](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-19-mn-350-story.html) to assist in emergency response and recovery efforts. In 2023, Newsom [authorized](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/04/28/sf-fentanyl-operation/) California National Guard troops to participate in a new multi-agency operation to tackle fentanyl trafficking in San Francisco. His office said that California National Guard service members would “support the analysis of drug trafficking operations, with a particular focus on disrupting and dismantling fentanyl rings in the region that contribute to the ongoing public safety and public health crisis.” Newsom also authorized service members to help local law enforcement officers “with administrative non-patrol tasks to improve law enforcement’s ability to address pressing crime-fighting efforts” related to the fentanyl operation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7327207/national-guard-san-francisco-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7327207/national-guard-san-francisco-trump/"},"headline":"When the National Guard Was Sent to San Francisco—and How Trump’s Proposal Breaks With Past Deployments","datePublished":"2025-10-21T10:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:26:19.427Z","description":"Trump's stated intention to send troops to the city would break with past deployments there in a notable way.","url":"https://time.com/7327207/national-guard-san-francisco-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2817903225cd3afc/6998caea25f3ee51f86451c0/Trump-SF-Troops.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2817903225cd3afc/6998caea25f3ee51f86451c0/Trump-SF-Troops.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Hosts Australian Prime Minister Albanese","caption":"President Trump Hosts Australian Prime Minister Albanese","creditText":"Yuri Gripas—Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7327207/national-guard-san-francisco-trump/","name":"When the National Guard Was Sent to San Francisco—and How Trump’s Proposal Breaks With Past Deployments"}}]}] ```