Marc Benioff is San Francisco’s longtime liberal-leaning billionaire, the technology executive who funded services for homeless people, donated to the city’s public schools and organized fundraisers for Hillary Clinton.
But in a new and comprehensive telephone interview with the New York Times on his private plane, Benioff revealed a political transformation that seemed to surprise even his own communications team, despite Salesforce having hundreds of contracts with the federal government.
The Salesforce founder stated that he “fully supports” President Trump and thinks National Guard troops should patrol the streets of San Francisco. He became emotional as he sat across from Trump at a state dinner at Windsor Castle, telling the president “how grateful I am for everything he is doing.” He praised the efficiency efforts of Elon Musk’s administration and said he had not closely followed news about the immigration raids or Trump’s attacks on the media.
The 50-minute conversation reportedly ended after Benioff turned to his public relations executive, apparently noticing her expression. “What about political issues?” he could be heard asking. “Too spicy?”
While Benioff’s move mirrors Trump’s broader accommodation in Silicon Valley, the exchange offered a rare glimpse of how far this repositioning could go. The question now: Will other Bay Area tech CEOs follow Benioff’s example and call in federal troops in their own backyard?
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