Professional golfer Phil Mickelson has called on Donald Trump to “save” San Francisco as the president weighs sending National Guard troops to the city.
The Ryder Cup legend, a vocal supporter of the president, responded to a post by California Governor Gavin Newsom that said “nobody wants” federal troops in San Francisco: “This isn’t true at all. We are begging for him to come save this former great city(and more).”
Newsweek reached out to Newsom and Mickleson for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump said last week that he would be “strongly recommending” sending the National Guard to San Francisco “at the request of government officials.”
It was just the latest city Trump has targeted. Since returning to office in January, Trump has authorized the use of federal troops in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., which he said had “become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World.” The president has also tried to send National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, though these efforts have run into legal roadblocks.
While Trump has said there is crime in San Francisco and that troops are needed to curtail it, critics say he is exceeding his executive authority to illegally target Democratic-run areas like California, especially given that Trump has clashed with Newsom.
What To Know
Mickleson’s post was a response to Newsom’s reaction to an interview Trump gave to Fox News on Sunday, in which the president said: “We’re going to go to San Francisco, the difference is I think they want us in San Francisco.”
“San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world, and then 15 years ago it went wrong, it went woke,” Trump added, saying he was going “to make it great again.”
Newsom posted the interview on X and wrote: “Fact check. Nobody wants you here. You will ruin one of America’s greatest cities.”
Mickleson also responded on X to a Fox News report claiming that San Francisco had been ranked the worst-run major city in America and said, “This is really sad and disappointing. It’s such a beautiful place to be ruined by poor leadership.”
Newsom’s office said in a Wednesday release that overall violent crime in San Francisco had decreased by 22 percent in the last year. The office also said that from 2019 to 2025, the city saw a 45 percent decrease in homicides and a 40 percent drop in robberies.
Various San Francisco officials, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, have also rejected Trump’s claims about the city.
Other figures have backed the use of troops in San Francisco. Elon Musk wrote on X earlier this month that federal intervention in San Francisco was “the only solution.”
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told The New York Times last week: “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it.” He added: “I fully support the president.”
However, he later backtracked and said on X that he no longer believed the National Guard was “needed to address safety in San Francisco.”
What People Are Saying
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press conference: “We have a lot of work to do, but I trust our local law enforcement. We in San Francisco are doing the work each and every day, and I will continue to do the work 365 days a year alongside these great law enforcement partners that we have.”
Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener, whose district covers the city, said on X: “San Francisco neither needs nor wants Trump’s personal army on our streets. Contrary to Trump’s lie, no ‘government officials’ here have requested federal occupation. We don’t need Trump’s authoritarian crackdown in our city. Bottom line: Stay the hell out of San Francisco.”
Scott Lucas, who teaches international politics at University College Dublin, previously told Newsweek that Trump wants to be “an authoritarian tough guy” and San Francisco was just one of many cities he might target.
He added that Trump “makes the deployment of U.S. military on the streets normal” to “break down the U.S. system.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether Trump will send federal troops to San Francisco.
