TACO Trump's Efforts to Crack Down on Crime Resulted in the Opposite Effect

Throughout the summer, President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized Democrats for the rise in crime in San Francisco and threatened to deploy federal agents to the city. However, recent developments indicate that his administrations policies have inadvertently limited the citys capacity to address its severe drug epidemic.

Earlier in the year, Trumppreviously nicknamed TACO for always chickening out on tariff threatspromised a surge of federal agents to San Francisco but ultimately abandoned the plan in late October after consultations with some associates, according to his posts on Truth Social. Instead, thousands of federal agents from agencies including the FBI, DEA, and ATF were reassigned to immigration enforcement, significantly reducing prosecutions across nearly all federal crime categories.

An agency official explained to Reuters that while arresting street-level drug dealers is relatively straightforward, dismantling major drug trafficking networks is a labor-intensive effort requiring extensive surveillance, infiltration, and wiretaps. The reassignment of agents has pulled them away from these complex criminal investigations, undermining one of Californias most effective tools against high-level criminal operations.

Recent court record analysis by Reuters shows a dramatic drop in federal criminal charges in San Francisco. Since 2024, prosecutions for drug trafficking, illegal firearms, and violent crimes have fallen by approximately 40 percent, with federal drug cases alone decreasing by nearly 50 percent, totaling just 137 cases. A former Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted, They simply dont have enough agents to handle criminal cases.

This issue extends beyond San Francisco. As of November 1, the Justice Department had filed charges against only 355 individuals nationwide, down from 575 in the same period the previous year. While San Francisco experiences lower violent crime rates than many other major cities, its drug crisisfueled largely by cheap, potent fentanylhas claimed more than 3,200 lives over the past five years, according to the citys medical examiner.

Local advocates highlight the consequences of reduced federal involvement. Tom Wolf of Rescue SF, a group focused on homelessness solutions, stated, Dealers fear federal agents completely, but city police? They dont. Dealers operate openly and without concern. Jason Finau of the Glide Foundation, which supports individuals with addiction, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that local policing alone has not curbed drug dealing or use.

Compounding the issue, San Francisco courts have been overwhelmed with immigration cases, exacerbated by the Justice Departments dismissal of twelve immigration judges this year, leaving only nine to serve the city. Trump ultimately refrained from sending troops after his Justice Department communications, including spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre, countered claims that the focus on immigration had hurt federal criminal prosecutions. Baldassarre stated, Assisting our partners with immigration enforcement has not deterred our ability to also successfully investigate and prosecute other types of crime to keep American citizens safe.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson reinforced this view, highlighting that arrested individuals included terrorists, human traffickers, and drug smugglers, but declined to comment specifically on federal operations in San Francisco. Efforts to obtain additional comments from the White House were made by The Daily Beast.

Author: Sophia Brooks