Days after Marc Benioff stunned his hometown by calling for President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco because of what he claimed was rampant crime, Mayor Daniel Lurie and other officials say they have got the situation under control.
However, later on Wednesday, Trump renewed his rhetoric about cleaning up San Francisco with federal personnel.
“I’m going to be strongly recommending at the request of government officials, which is always nice, that you start looking at San Francisco,” Trump said at a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel. “I think we can make San Francisco -- one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and now it’s a mess.
“And we have great support in San Francisco, so I’d like to recommend that for inclusion, maybe in your next group,” Trump said to Patel.
Speaking earlier at the San Francisco Police Department’s academy in Diamond Heights, Lurie touted a reduction in reported crimes and a growing number of police recruits this year. Overall, crime is down 30% in 2025 compared with last year, police stats show, and the number of homicides is on track to be the lowest in 70 years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle (opens in new tab).
At the same time, the number of police officers on the street has increased for the first time since the pandemic, officials said. Still, the SFPD is 500 cops short of its staffing goal.
“I’m not trying to change those people’s minds,” Lurie said about San Francisco’s naysayers. “They’re entitled to their own opinions, but they’re not entitled to their own facts.”
That contrasts with the Salesforce CEO who recently griped about public safety in San Francisco, praised Trump’s second-term performance, and expressed support for using National Guard troops as crime fighters. “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” he said in a New York Times interview Friday.
Since then, the billionaire — along with Salesforce’s extensive public relations operation — has walked back his comments by clarifying that he meant the city merely needs more resources and collaboration.
“I want to put all of our political situations aside and all of our divisiveness, and just come together as one ohana (opens in new tab) right now,” Benioff said during his Dreamforce keynote address.
Lurie confirmed that he spoke to Benioff following the publication of the explosive comments, using his signature measured language to convey his disagreement with one of SF’s leading philanthropists and employers.
“Those are private conversations, but what I said to him is what I’m saying to you all now, and that is that we are working relentlessly every day at public safety,” the mayor said.
In a separate statement (opens in new tab) touting the products of crime-fighting partnerships, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office noted that the California Highway Patrol would have 200 extra officers on duty during this week’s Dreamforce conference in coordination with the city and Salesforce.
Appearing with Lurie, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins made her critiques more pointed and faulted Benioff for appealing to Trump, who has thrust federal forces into Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. without partnering with local officials.
There have been numerous documented cases of ICE apprehending people at San Francisco’s immigration court and in raids on residential buildings this year. Jenkins warned that ICE agents and other federal forces are not above the law.
“My job is to keep San Franciscans safe and so that means from anyone who crosses that line,” Jenkins said.