Trump claims ‘government officials’ asked for intervention in SF after Benioff, Musk call for National Guard

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — On Wednesday, President Donald Trump claimed “government officials” have asked for federal intervention in San Francisco, days after a pair of tech billionaires called for the National Guard to be deployed to the city. Trump made the remarks in a White House news conference, saying he would be “strongly recommending at the request of government officials, which is always nice, that you start looking at San Francisco.”

Trump, who did not name any of the government officials he cited, noted that San Francisco was “one of our great cities, 10 years ago, 15 years ago.”

Ten years ago, in 2015, Kamala Harris was San Francisco’s attorney general. Fifteen years ago, in 2010, Gavin Newsom was mayor.

“We have great support in San Francisco,” Trump continued.

“So, I’d like to recommend that for inclusion, maybe in your next group,” he added, addressing FBI Director Kash Patel.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) pushed back on the president’s claims that government officials called for a federal deployment to the city, calling it a lie.

“San Francisco neither needs nor wants Trump’s private army on our streets,” Wiener said in a statement. “Any such deployment would be a massive waste of taxpayer dollars and yet another step toward authoritarianism. And contrary to Trump’s lie, no ‘government officials’ here have requested federal occupation.”

While KRON4 News is not aware of any government officials requesting federal intervention in San Francisco, the president’s remarks came days after Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff called for the National Guard to be deployed to the city in an interview with The New York Times. Tesla CEO and one-time Trump ally, Elon Musk, later echoed Benioff’s remarks, calling downtown SF “a drug-zombie apocalypse.”

Trump’s remarks came just hours after San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins held a news conference citing declining crime in the city and pushing back on the suggested need of federal involvement.