U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after getting off Air Force One upon arriving at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on his way to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend on October 17, 2025.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump is stepping up his calls for the National Guard to be deployed to San Francisco just as the city is undergoing a post-pandemic recovery powered by artificial intelligence.
Crime rates are down 30% from 2024, murders are at their lowest level in 70 years, and car break-ins have not been this low in 22 years. Meanwhile, event bookings and tourism are on the rise, residential real estate is in short supply, and the office market is heating up.
The city’s business momentum is largely based on the AI boom.
Venture capital funding in 2025 is expected to exceed the all-time high of $276 billion set in 2021, according to new data from CBRE. The majority of its investments are in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, with 80% of AI venture funding through the third quarter targeted to reach $115 billion worth.
By the end of September, the San Francisco Bay Area was already 35% above its historical annual investment peak, according to CBRE’s VC Funding Analysis.
“San Franciscans are once again feeling positive about the direction of our city,” Daniel Lurie, the city’s Democratic mayor, said in a statement released by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office last week. “And we will continue to work every day to build on this progress and keep our city safe 365 days a year.”
The statement was intended to tout successful efforts by local police prior to the incident. sales force Dreamforce annual conference held last week. The issue became particularly controversial after Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told the New York Times that he supports President Trump’s call to send federal troops to San Francisco. His sentiments were publicly supported by Elon Musk and David Sachs, prominent technologists with close ties to the Trump administration.
On Friday, in the face of mounting criticism, Benioff backtracked, writing on X: “After listening to my fellow San Franciscans and local officials, I don’t think the National Guard is necessary to keep San Francisco safe after the largest and safest Dream Force in history.”
The Trump administration recently deployed the National Guard to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, sparking protests and lawsuits. Over the weekend, President Trump reiterated his plans to send troops to San Francisco, telling Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, “The difference is, they want us to be in San Francisco.”
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment about the president’s plans.
Lurie said in a statement late Monday that San Francisco law enforcement partners with federal agencies to combat drug crimes and no additional forces are needed.
“While we are deeply grateful to our military personnel for their dedication to serving our country, the National Guard does not have the authority to arrest drug traffickers. Sending them to San Francisco will do nothing to take fentanyl off our streets or make our cities safer,” Lurie said.
Lurie has previously supported the safety of events held over the past week, including the Dream Force weekend and the No Kings protest. In contrast to Newsom, Lurie has taken a far less combative approach to Trump since taking office in January.
On October 12, a few days before the start of Dreamforce, Lurie wrote in a post to X that “San Francisco is excited.”
The data supports that view.
Tourism spending is expected to increase modestly this year, from $9.26 billion to $9.35 billion, according to the San Francisco Travel Association. Conferences, sporting events like NBA All-Star Weekend, and music festivals like Outside Lands contributed to the growth.
The commercial real estate market is also recovering as coronavirus-era work-from-home policies are gradually eased.
According to CBRE, technology companies’ share of leasing activity per square foot will increase to 53% in 2025, the highest since 2019. Apartment rental prices are also rising. Multifamily rents rose 6% in August, far outpacing Chicago’s 3.75% increase, which had the second-highest increase, according to KoStar.
“Housing prices are probably going to be this low for a while,” Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist, said in an interview on CNBC.
There is still a lot of room for improvement. The city has lost major tenants in its downtown shopping district in recent years, including the flagship Nordstrom store. The Nordstrom store was part of San Francisco City Center, the city’s largest shopping mall, and is now virtually empty.
According to Cushman & Wakefield, the office vacancy rate remained high at 33.6% in the third quarter. Homelessness and open drug use are long-standing problems and are concentrated in certain areas of the city.
But Egan said in addition to the data, he has noticed significant changes in the city’s health status.
“It seems cleaner and safer now than any time I’ve been here,” said Egan, who has worked in San Francisco for more than 20 years. “I still think it’s a great place to move to because there’s a lot of economic opportunity. There’s a lot of long-term economic power for people looking to start their careers.”
WATCH: Salesforce CEO faces backlash over support for possible National Guard deployment
