Democrats have one playbook when it comes to President Trump: resist. No matter what he does, opposition isn’t enough—they have to deny reality itself. If Trump points out that crime is spiraling in a Democrat-run city, they scream that it isn’t true, and then lose their minds if he dares to fix the problem. But this week, something unexpected happened that proved there’s actually a better approach than blind resistance: cooperation.
And of all places, it happened in San Francisco.
While most Democrats are still stuck performing their tired act of resistance theater, Mayor Daniel Lurie just showed what can happen when an elected official decides to act like an adult and actually put people ahead of politics. Turns out, cooperation beats hysteria every time.
President Trump called off a planned federal law enforcement surge into San Francisco scheduled for Saturday after a late-night phone conversation with Lurie. Federal agents had already landed Thursday at the Coast Guard base in Alameda, with at least some of those officers intended to be part of the operation targeting crime in the city.
Here’s how it went down: Trump's friends in the Bay Area reached out to ask him to hold off, noting that Lurie was making substantial progress. The president called the mayor, and Lurie asked, very nicely, for a chance to turn things around himself.
"The Federal Government was preparing to 'surge' San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump explained in a post on Truth Social. “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, while justifiably skeptical and confident that the federal government could do the job better and faster, said he was willing to give him a chance to prove he can clean up the city.
“The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting Crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject,” Trump continued. “Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great. They want to give it a 'shot.' Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”
Notice what didn’t happen here. No meltdowns. No breathless press conferences full of pearl-clutching and doomsday predictions. No made-for-TV resistance or recycled claims of a “constitutional crisis.” Just two leaders acting like adults and talking seriously about public safety.
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Mayor Lurie posted on X that he spoke to San Franciscans about the potential federal deployment. "I said then what I have said since taking office, that keeping San Franciscans safe is my top priority," Lurie stated. When Trump called late Wednesday night, Lurie told him the same thing he told residents: "San Francisco is on the rise. Visitors are coming back, buildings are getting leased and purchased, and workers are coming back to the office." Lurie said the city would welcome continued partnerships with the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off the streets. He expressed concerns about military and militarized immigration enforcement hindering the city's recovery, and the president listened. Trump clearly told Lurie he was calling off any plans for federal deployment in San Francisco.
Here’s the lesson every Democratic mayor, governor, and elected official should take to heart: this is how leadership is supposed to work. Pick up the phone. Make public safety a priority. Stop treating Trump like the enemy. Most Democrats won’t do it because they care more about political posturing than actual governance—especially those already fantasizing about a 2028 run for president.
Every Democrat watching this knows Trump isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the crises tearing apart their cities. They can keep playing resistance games while their constituents suffer, or they can swallow their pride, work with the White House, and start fixing things. The choice is theirs—but voters are watching, and they’re fed up with leaders who chase headlines instead of criminals.
