“There is no basis to send National Guard troops to San Francisco. No emergency. No rebellion. No invasion. Not even unrest,” said Attorney General Bonta. “President Trump has long abandoned any pretenses for the illegal federalization and deployment of California’s National Guard. He does not care about satisfying the conditions of the law; he cares about himself, and he cares about power. Trump has made no secret of his intentions: To use our National Guard as his own Royal Army and our cities as a training ground for the military. This is outrageous, indefensible—and most importantly illegal. San Francisco may be the President’s latest target, but California is no stranger to the President’s political games and unconstitutional tactics. We’re ready to go to court immediately if the President follows through on this latest illegal plan.”
Trump’s off his rocker
In recent weeks, Trump has publicly stated his intention to unlawfully send in the National Guard to San Francisco, including saying on October 19 that “they want us in San Francisco,” and on October 15 “strongly recommending at the request of government officials, which is always nice, that you start looking at San Francisco” to deploy the military.
In fact, community partners and local leaders have vehemently disagreed with the President and have said no to this domestic military intervention in the city – public safety is up and crime is down all because of significant investments and meaningful partnerships between state and local leaders. In an apparent senior moment, the President seems to have confused a business leader, who has since completely walked back his comments, with government officials.
Since the deployment of soldiers to Los Angeles in June, the federal government has shifted their reasoning and broadened their mission, dispatching hundreds of guardsmen beyond Los Angeles to Portland and Chicago.
Ultimately, their presence in other states means that there is truly no need for their federalization in Los Angeles as they are not even around to protect California from any “lawlessness.” The federal government has now renewed these California guardsmembers federalization to at least February 2026.
California takes care of its own communities
Local officials do not want the National Guard in San Francisco, even if Donald Trump has convinced himself otherwise.
The truth is that Donald Trump hates California’s progress. California’s partnership with local communities, especially in San Francisco, has helped reduce crime and increase public safety by seizing illicit drugs and firearms off the streets. With crime dropping statewide, the Governor announced the next phase of his crime-fighting efforts in July — deploying new California Highway Patrol (CHP) crime suppression teams to work directly with local law enforcement in major cities and regions across the state — San Diego, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Central Valley, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Specifically in the Bay Area, CHP has helped local law enforcement make an estimated 200 arrests, recover 500 stolen vehicles, and seize 30 illicit firearms since expanding the state’s partnership crime-fighting efforts. These numbers include the statewide total of more than 950 arrests, over 550 stolen vehicles recovered, and nearly 60 illegal firearms seized across the various regions so far this year.
The work these officers do together every day is all in service to their communities and to improve safety overall. In 2023, the state began working with local communities to target fentanyl trafficking, disrupting the supply of the deadly drug in the city, and holding the operators of drug trafficking rings accountable. Through collaborative efforts between the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, the California National Guard, the San Francisco Police Department, and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, officials seized nearly 700 pounds of fentanyl and CHP issued 6,200+ citations for illegal activity, made 500+ arrests, and recovered 115+ stolen vehicles.
California has invested $1.7 billion since 2019 to fight crime, help local governments hire more police, and improve public safety. In 2023, as part of California’s Public Safety Plan, the Governor announced the largest-ever investment to combat organized retail crime in state history, an annual 310% increase in proactive operations targeting organized retail crime, and special operations across the state to fight crime and improve public safety.
In August, Governor Newsom signed into law the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime in modern California history. Building on the state’s robust laws and record public safety funding, these bipartisan bills offer new tools to bolster ongoing efforts to hold criminals accountable for smash-and-grab robberies, property crime, retail theft, and auto burglaries. While California’s crime rate remains at near-historic lows, these laws help California adapt to evolving criminal tactics to ensure perpetrators are effectively held accountable.
Don’t let Trump make you think otherwise, crime is down in San Francisco
According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, overall violent crime in major California cities is down 12.5% in 2025 compared to 2024. The largest overall declines in violent crime were reported by the police departments in Oakland (30%) and San Francisco (22%).
According to another data set released by the California Department of Justice, nearly every major crime category, including violent crime and homicides, dropped in 2024.
The results in California’s major Bay Area cities cross over into overall success for the state as California’s 2024 homicide rate is now the second lowest it has been since at least 1966.
And when comparing crime rates in San Francisco before the COVID-induced crime surge, between 2019 and 2025, there has been a 45% decrease in homicides and 40% decrease in robberies.
Update on cross-country legal actions
While the litigation is ongoing – and the Ninth Circuit will hear arguments on Wednesday in an appeal from the trial judge’s order blocking the federalization and deployment of the Guard.
- California: Following a bench trial, a federal judge ruled in August 2025 that President Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act. This law restricts the military’s involvement in domestic law enforcement and was central to a lawsuit filed by Governor Gavin Newsom and the state of California against the Trump administration regarding the federalization and deployment of these troops. That ruling is on hold pending the federal government’s appeal.
- Illinois: In October 2025, a federal district court issued a temporary restraining order to block the deployment of federalized troops, including the Texas National Guard, to Chicago. This action followed a lawsuit filed by state and city leaders against the Trump administration to prevent such a deployment. While a federal appeals court later permitted the troops to remain federalized and mustered, it upheld the prohibition against their deployment within Illinois. The Trump administration has since appealed this decision to the Supreme Court. Four judges, including two appointed by Republicans, have already ruled against President Trump and found that no facts supported his deployment of the National Guard to Chicago. On Monday, California filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in support of Illinois’ position in Trump v. Illinois.
- Oregon: A federal lawsuit was filed by Oregon and Portland, and later joined by California, to block the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland. A district court judge initially blocked the federalization and deployment in early October 2025, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit later “stayed” that restraining order to the extent it would de-federalize the Guard troops. The order blocking deployment of Guard troops in Oregon remains in effect for now. Litigation is ongoing in that case.
Trump’s federalization of Los Angeles
On June 7, for the first time in our country’s history, the President invoked 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to federalize a state’s National Guard over the objections of California.
President Trump and Department of Defense Secretary Hegseth transferred 4,000 members of California’s National Guard—one in three of the Guard’s total active members—to federal control to serve in a civilian law enforcement role on the streets of Los Angeles and other communities in Southern California.
California brought suit to challenge that unprecedented action. The litigation is ongoing – with a hearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
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