Look out, San Francisco. Federal troops could be coming to “clean up” the city, by order of President Donald Trump.
Speaking Friday at the White House, Trump listed cities Democrats have “destroyed,” including Chicago, New York City, and yours truly.
“Look at what Democrats have done to San Francisco,” Trump said. “They’ve destroyed it. We could clean that up too. We’ll clean that one up, too.”
According to Trump, these cities have high crime and dangerous streets. In a statement, Mayor Daniel Lurie pointed out that crime in the city has been falling for years.
“My administration has made safe and clean streets our top priority, and the results are clear: Crime is at its lowest point in decades, visitors are coming back, and San Francisco is on the rise,” he said. The mayor did not mention Trump by name, as is his custom.
In fact, crime is down nationwide, according to a report from the Council on Criminal Justice. The analysis shows that there were fewer offenses in large U.S. cities in the first half of 2025 than during the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.
Trump says Chicago is probably first on his list.
“Chicago is a mess,” Trump said. “We’ll straighten that one out, probably next.”
Trump on Aug. 11 deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. He deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles protests in June.
Whether troops will be deployed to patrol the mean streets of Noe Valley and beyond remains to be seen — just like that project to reopen a prison on Alcatraz Island.