This interview aired in the February 26, 2026 episode of Crosscurrents.
Click the button above to listen.
Four months ago, President Trump vowed to send National Guardsmen into the streets of San Francisco, claiming that they would be sent to reduce crime. This was amid similar deployments to Washington, D.C. and Chicago — both major cities run by Democratic mayors.
But the night before the deployment was to begin, San Francisco's Mayor Daniel Lurie spoke to Trump in a phone call. And, the next day, the President reversed his decision on deploying the Federal troops.
Neither Lurie nor Trump have offered much about what was said on that telephone call. And concerned city residents and media outlets have been demanding answers. Lurie's office has refused inquiries from both citizens and the media about the call.
Just last month the SF Sunshine Ordinance Task Force found that the mayor’s office improperly withheld records of this call, but so far Lurie’s staff maintain that they are not obligated to share even partially redacted records with the public.
Joe Rivano Barros is a senior editor with Mission Local, who has been following the fight to uncover the details of the Trump-Lurie call.
