WASHINGTON/OAKLAND, Oct 23 (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 Democratic-led cities around the country to step up enforcement against crime and illegal immigration.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, a Democrat, said in a post on X that Trump called him Wednesday night to tell him he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment. Lurie said the city would continue to partner with federal agencies to combat drug crime, but that “militarized immigration enforcement” would not help.

Sign up here.

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

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.”

The Republican president said two major tech executives – Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff – had called him “saying that the future of San Francisco is great.”

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.

BORDER PATROL AGENTS FACE PROTESTS

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 were met with several hundred protesters.

Demonstrators carried signs reading “Stop the Kidnappings” and “Protect Our Neighbors,” with one protester 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.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, the former member of Congress and civil rights activist, said in televised remarks that a federal deployment would divide and intimidate.

“We will not allow outsiders to create chaos or exploit our city,” said Lee, a Democrat.

Trump 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.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the U.S. military has carried out another strike in the Eastern Pacific targeting alleged terrorists he says were engaged in narco-trafficking.

Three suspected narco-terrorists were killed, according to Hegseth. The strikes were ordered at the direction of President Donald Trump. 

Hegseth said the Pentagon conducted “yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.”

TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and was carrying narcotics,” he continued. “Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”

This is the ninth vessel strike since September and the second strike reported in the Eastern Pacific. A total of 37 have reportedly been killed while two survived and were later repatriated to their home countries.

TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?

A U.S. military drone strike ordered by President Trump destroyed a vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Oct. 22, 2025, killing three suspected narco-terrorists, according to the Department of War. (Department of War)

“These strikes will continue, day after day,” Hegseth said on Wednesday. “These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs are the ‘Al Qaeda’ of our hemisphere and will not escape justice. We will find them and kill them, until the threat to the American people is extinguished.”

The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board.

The Trump administration has been scrutinized in recent weeks over the strikes, including by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.

A U.S. military drone strike ordered by President Trump destroyed a vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Oct. 22, 2025, killing three suspected narco-terrorists, according to the Department of War. (Department of War)

In a recent interview, Paul cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded for suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.

The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to engage in a war with Venezuela, as it has targeted boats in recent weeks it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it must seek a declaration of war from Congress.