Trump backs off plans to 'surge' SF as mayor pleads for a chance

President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed that he had opted to postpone plans to "surge" federal forces into San Francisco in a bid to clean up the city, following a conversation with the mayor, who asked for a chance to first address the issue himself.

"The Federal Government was preparing to 'surge' San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress," Trump posted on Truth Social.

"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. I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove," he added. "I told him, 'It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer but, let’s see how you do?' The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting Crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject."

"Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great. They want to give it a 'shot.' Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!" he concluded.

Trump's decision comes as major American cities such as Chicago fight his efforts to deploy the National Guard in order to crack down on crime, illegal immigration, and public safety issues.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.