Trump praises San Francisco mayor for 'trying very hard' to improve city after moderates took over leadership

President Donald Trump praised San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday for "really trying" to improve the city after moderates took over leadership.

"I know they have a mayor who’s trying very hard. He’s a Democrat, but he’s trying very hard," Trump said in a clip aired by CNN.

"But we can do it much more effectively, because he can’t do what we do. He can’t take people out from the city and bring them back to the country from where they came, where they were in prisons. They were allowed to go in prisons. There were drug dealers, the highest level of drug dealers. Murderers. 11,888 murders. We do things that they can’t do," Trump added.

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Trump spoke after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth during a meeting that initially addressed the war in Iran. The conversation then pivoted to Democrat-run cities' handling of illegal immigration and crime.

"We can make it a lot safer than it is. San Francisco — a great city, was a great city — could quickly become a great city again," Trump said.

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Trump went on to say, "But, you know, they’re going very slowly. I tell my friends — they are very substantial people, they’re in a certain business where people have made a lot of money; I hope that lasts — but they have tremendous, tremendous potential. It was one of the greatest cities in the world. Now it’s got a lot of crime. And the mayor’s really trying. Again, a Democrat trying. And I spoke to him. He just wants to have a chance. And I said, ‘We’ll give you a chance, but we can solve it very quickly.’"

The city elected Lurie in 2024, defeating incumbent Democrat London Breed in a shift away from lenient policies on crime, drugs and homelessness that critics say contributed to the city’s decline.

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Moderate Democrats in San Francisco are pushing back against progressive candidates, fearing local left-wing politicians could undo the work done over the past four years after a surge in the city's homelessness and crime.

Neighbors for a Better San Francisco raised $10 million to pour into local elections to stop progressives from being re-elected and knocking the city "off its more centrist course," according to a Politico report last month.