Marc Benioff has long been a liberal-leaning San Francisco billionaire, a tech executive who funded homeless services. Donation in the city’s public schools, and hosted a Hillary Clinton fundraiser.
But in a new, broader scope phone interview With The New York Times from his private plane, Benioff revealed a political shift that surprised even his own communications team, despite Salesforce having hundreds of contracts with the federal government.
The Salesforce founder announced that he “fully supports” President Trump and thinks National Guard troops should patrol the streets of San Francisco. Sitting across from Trump at a state dinner at Windsor Castle, she told 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 when Benioff turned to his public relations executive, apparently noticing her expression. “What about political questions?” he can be heard asking. “very spicy?”
Although Benioff’s transition reflects Trump’s broader adjustment to Silicon Valley, the exchange offered a rare glimpse of how far this reset could go. The question now is, will other Bay Area tech CEOs follow Benioff’s lead and call federal troops into their backyards?
