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Marc Benioff has long been San Francisco’s liberal-leaning billionaire, the tech executive who funded homeless services, donated to the city’s public schools and hosted fundraisers for Hillary Clinton.
But in a new and broad telephone interview Speaking to the New York Times from his private plane, Benioff revealed a political transformation that seemed to surprise even his own communications team, even though Salesforce has hundreds of contracts with the federal government.
The Salesforce founder declared that he “fully supported” President Trump and thought National Guard troops should patrol the streets of San Francisco. He gushed about sitting across from Trump at a state dinner at Windsor Castle and telling the president “how grateful I am for everything he’s doing.” He praised Elon Musk’s government efficiency efforts and said he had not closely followed news about immigration raids or Trump’s attacks on the media.
The 50-minute conversation reportedly ended after Benioff turned to her public relations executive, apparently noticing her expression. “What about political issues?” he was heard asking. “Too spicy?”
Although Benioff’s move reflects Silicon Valley’s broader adaptation to Trump, the exchange offered a rare glimpse of how far that repositioning can go. The question now is: Will other Bay Area tech CEOs follow Benioff’s lead and call for federal troops in their own backyard?
