Trump said he had planned to “surge San Francisco” by marching National Guard soldiers into the city. However, he was convinced to change course. Post to his social network Truth Social Thursday. The post said that Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia and Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce were among the luminaries in the tech industry who called him to convince him to change his decision.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie confirmed that in a Statement stating that the military operation was planned and cancelled, but he did not name the individuals who spoke with the President. Benioff’s participation is noteworthy
. Benioff, who was born and raised in San Francisco where Salesforce is headquartered, said he supported Trump earlier this month. He also said that he believed National Guard troops should patrol the streets. This comment caused VC legend Ron Conway, who had served on the board of Salesforce’s philanthropic organization for a decade, to resign and condemn Benioff and his comments.
Benioff apologized immediately and retracted his request for National Guard patrols. “… “After the largest and most safe Dreamforce in our histories, I don’t believe the National Guard will be needed to ensure safety in San Francisco,” Benioff stated. In a post earlier this month on X the CEO pleaded his case to the White House. It appears that the CEO doubled-down and actually pleaded his case to the White House.
Next week, Mayor Lurie will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco. We’ll probably hear more about the city’s efforts to improve safety and de-escalate the situation. Subscribe to the latest tech news in the industry
