Oakland’s City Hall was buzzing with energy and defiance on August 14, 2025, as Mayor Barbara Lee and a coalition of local leaders gathered to denounce President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about their city. The president, during an August 11 press conference announcing his takeover of the Washington, D.C. police, had singled out Oakland—alongside Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, and New York—as a potential target for a National Guard deployment. His comments, which implied that these cities were beset by lawlessness and in need of federal intervention, set off a wave of outrage among Oakland’s officials, who accused Trump of distorting facts, stoking fear, and using the city as a political scapegoat.
Mayor Lee, standing at the podium in front of City Hall, didn’t mince words. “No one knows this president’s playbook better than I do,” she declared, recalling her own tenure in Congress during Trump’s first administration and her presence on the House floor on January 6, 2021, when chaos erupted at the Capitol. “When Donald Trump threatens our communities, we stand up, and I stood up to him before, over and over and over again. And as mayor, I will continue to stand firm with you.” According to The Oakland Tribune, Lee made it clear that the city’s legal team was already scrutinizing the constitutionality of Trump’s statements, especially his threat to send National Guard troops into cities across the country.
Lee’s message was echoed by Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, who emphasized that Oakland’s leadership is “laser focused” on public safety improvements. Bas pointed to the county’s recent investments: “hundreds of millions of dollars from Measure C on early childcare and education, and a historic $1.4 billion investment of Measure W funds for homelessness solutions across the county.” She didn’t hold back in her assessment of Trump’s intent, stating, “Let’s be clear today that Trump’s threats and his deployment of the National Guard are not about safety or law, this is about fear and control, and it is a blatant abuse of power.”
Trump’s critics at the press conference were quick to counter his claims about crime in Oakland. Lee highlighted the city’s progress, saying, “Oakland has achieved a 28 percent overall crime reduction in the first six months of 2025, with significant decreases in violent crimes and a 46 percent decrease in auto thefts.” She acknowledged there was still work to be done, but stressed the city’s commitment to public safety. Councilmember Rowena Brown drove the point home, arguing that Trump’s rhetoric was part of a “long, harmful pattern where leaders distort the truth about majority Black communities to justify federal overreach, aggressive policing, and the erosion of our civil liberties.”
Brown’s remarks were echoed by Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, who accused Trump of using Oakland as a “scapegoat” to distract from his own controversies, including his connection to the late Jeffrey Epstein. Councilmember Carroll Fife took the critique even further, referring to the president as “Mister Convicted Felon” and scoffing at the notion that Trump cared about law and order. “We’re talking about having a president who had Oakland’s name in his mouth about crime, who was a convicted felon,” Fife said. “A convicted felon trying to talk about Oakland. I’m offended.” She accused Trump of “grooming communities to prepare us for an abusive relationship that he wants to have with the American people.”
Brenda Harbin-Forte, a former Alameda County Superior Court judge and a leader in the local NAACP, read a statement from NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, who described Trump as a “president of chaos and corruption.” Harbin-Forte was resolute: “We hope all of you will join us in this fight for the very soul of our country and for the very soul of our city. We will not back down.” She also noted that the NAACP has filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration and pledged to continue the fight for “justice and freedom.”
The press conference came just days after another crisis hit Oakland’s immigrant community. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained at least six people in East Oakland, including a 17-year-old and a person with Down Syndrome. According to Nikolas De Bremaeker, an immigrants’ rights managing attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza, the detainees were held in “deplorable conditions” at ICE’s San Francisco field office. “When I had to explain that his family members had been transferred, he just broke down in tears,” De Bremaeker said, describing the trauma experienced by the child. The cell reportedly had only “a piece of plastic to use as a blanket,” a bare cement floor, and a single toilet without privacy. The 17-year-old was transferred to a facility in New York, while several others, including the person with Down Syndrome, were sent to Tacoma, Washington.
Lee reaffirmed Oakland’s status as a sanctuary city, promising support for immigrant families affected by ICE actions. However, advocates like De Bremaeker and Lourdes Martinez, directing attorney of Centro Legal’s immigrants’ rights practice, called on the city to do more. “We are calling on the city of Oakland to work with us to build resources to be able to file more of these [motions],” De Bremaeker told reporters, referring to legal actions aimed at freeing detained immigrants. Martinez noted that while Alameda County had recently allocated money to the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership—an initiative running a hotline for ICE-related emergencies—Oakland had yet to provide similar support. “Our assessment of the city of Oakland is we’re not prepared for what may come in terms of ICE enforcement now that ICE is the best-funded law enforcement agency of the federal government,” Martinez warned. “It really could increase what we see at the local level.”
The White House, for its part, pushed back against the criticism. In a statement, spokesperson Taylor Rogers argued that Democratic leaders should “stop trying to brush public safety issues under the rug.” Rogers claimed, “If Democrats had any common sense, they would follow President Trump’s lead to crack down on violent crime that has plagued our nation’s capital—and Democrat-run cities across the country.” Rogers added that instead of criticizing Trump’s “popular, tough-on crime policies,” local officials “should focus on cleaning up their own cities which are some of the most dangerous places in America.”
Despite the heated rhetoric, Oakland’s leaders remained united in their opposition to what they see as federal overreach and racially charged attacks on their city. Councilmember Fife summed up the mood: “Oakland will unite with all of the cities Trump mentioned as well as any that are standing on the right side of justice and we will continue that fight and Oakland is ready because we stay ready.”
As the debate over crime, federal power, and the rights of local communities continues to simmer, Oakland’s officials and advocates seem determined not to let their city become a political pawn. Their message is clear: they won’t back down, and they’re ready to defend their city’s values—no matter who’s in the White House.