President Trump is postponing his plan to “surge” federal agents to San Francisco to give local officials a “shot” at tackling crime in the city.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote that “friends of mine who live in the area” had told him the Democratic mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, has been “making substantial progress” on addressing crime. 

“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,” Mr. Trump wrote.

“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. I told him, ‘It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer but, let’s see how you do?’”

The president added, “They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”

Mr. Lurie posted on X that he told Mr. Trump, “San Francisco is on the rise. Visitors are coming back, buildings are getting leased and purchased, and workers are coming back to the office.”

“We have work to do, and we would welcome continued partnerships with the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets, but having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery,” he said. “In that conversation, the president told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco.”

Mr. Trump has already deployed the National Guard to several cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, and Portland, in his administration’s crackdown on crime. 

Earlier this week, Mr. Trump signaled that he planned to send National Guard troops to San Francisco. In a statement to Fox News on Monday, a White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, said that San Francisco leaders should “welcome the president in to clean up their city.”

“America’s once great cities have descended into chaos and crime as a result of Democrat policies that put criminals first and law-abiding citizens last,” she said. “Making America Safe Again — especially crime-ridden cities — was a key campaign promise from the president that the American people elected him to fulfill.”

Mr. Lurie, who was elected in 2024 after promising to “get tough” on criminal activity, said he did not support the deployment of National Guard troops to the city.

“My top priority every single day is keeping San Francisco safe. With the support of local law enforcement, community leaders, and the appropriate federal law enforcement partners, we’re achieving that goal without compromising our values or our laws,” Mr. Lurie said in a post on Instagram on Monday.

He said the city would work with federal officials to crack down on drug dealers, but maintained that the National Guard would not be effective because it “does not have the authority” to make arrests. 

Local officials at San Francisco have touted what they say is progress in improving public safety.

Data from the San Francisco Police Department shows that crime rates have decreased by more than 26 percent from the previous year. The decrease is seen in every category except sex trafficking crimes.