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 Hillary Clinton fundraisers.
But in a new, wide-ranging phone interview with the New York Times from his private plane, Benioff revealed a political transformation that seemed to surprise even his own communications team, despite that Salesforce has hundreds of contracts with the federal government.
The Salesforce founder declared he “fully supported” President Trump and thought National Guard troops should patrol San Francisco streets. He gushed about sitting across from Trump at a Windsor Castle state dinner, telling the president “how grateful I am for everything he’s doing.” He praised Elon Musk’s government efficiency efforts and said he hadn’t closely followed news about 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 the political questions?” he could be heard asking. “Too spicy?”
Though Benioff’s shift mirrors Silicon Valley’s broader accommodation of Trump, the exchange offered a rare glimpse of just how far that repositioning can go. The question now: will other Bay Area tech CEOs follow Benioff’s lead and call for federal troops in their own backyard?
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