Trump calls off federal agent deployment to San Francisco

By Jasper Ward and Nathan Frandino

WASHINGTON/OAKLAND (Reuters) -Donald Trump will not deploy federal agents to San Francisco, the U.S. President and the California city's mayor said in separate social media posts on Thursday, a surprising stand-down as Trump pressures Democrat-led cities around the country to step up enforcement against crime and illegal immigration.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said Trump called him Wednesday night to tell him he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "reaffirmed that direction" in a separate call Thursday morning, Lurie said in an X post.

"We have work to do, and we would welcome continued partnerships with the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets, but having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery," Lurie said.

"We appreciate that the president understands that we are the global hub for technology, and when San Francisco is strong, our country is strong."

Trump confirmed the agreement in a post on Truth Social, saying the federal government had been preparing a surge in San Francisco but would cancel it.

"I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around," Trump said. "The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting Crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject."

Trump had indicated San Francisco would be a next stop for National Guard troops he was sending to various U.S. Democratic-led cities, moves that have been challenged in courts.

The San Francisco Chronicle, citing an unnamed source, reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration would send more than 100 federal agents to the city to ramp up immigration enforcement.

DEMONSTRATIONS

Despite the apparent stand-down, a handful of U.S. Border Patrol vehicles arrived at a U.S. Coast Guard base in the Bay Area on Thursday morning and was met with dozens of protestor.

Demonstrators carried signs reading "Stop the Kidnappings" and "Protect Our Neighbors," with one protestor smacking the window of a truck as it passed by. Federal agents eventually used less-lethal rounds to disperse the crowd, with protesters saying one person was injured by a projectile and that another had their foot run over.

Trump, a Republican, aims to deport record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, portraying them as criminals and a drain on U.S. communities. Democrats in major U.S. cities have criticized the crackdown, saying it has terrorized law abiding residents, separated families and hurt businesses.

Trump has long highlighted what he views as rampant crime in San Francisco and had signaled in recent weeks that he would send federal agents there.

"We're going to San Francisco and we'll make it great," Trump told Fox News on Sunday.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson, Jasper Ward, Nathan Frandino, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; editing by Rami Ayyub)