Salesforce CEO Walks Back SF National Guard Suggestion: ‘I Sincerely Apologize’
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
On Friday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff walked back his previous suggestion that President Donald Trump should send the National Guard to San Francisco, writing, “I sincerely apologize” on X.
“I do not believe the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco,” Benioff wrote. “My earlier comment came from an abundance of caution around the event, and I sincerely apologize for the concern it caused.” Benioff here references Salesforce’s annual ‘Dreamforce’ conference, which was held in downtown San Francisco this week — notably, “the largest and safest” in the company’s history.
In a story published last week in The New York Times, Benioff said that he liked Trump’s idea of sending Guard troops to the city: “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it.” The Salesforce CEO was quickly met with criticism from California officials and San Francisco leaders, who insisted that federal troops were neither appropriate nor needed.
Most notable were responses from Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who continue to publicly defend the city’s ability to manage safety on its own, pointing out that crime rates are falling and speaking to broader national concerns about the use of federal forces in cities like Portland and Chicago.
Yet, on Wednesday, speaking at a news conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, Trump doubled down, saying he’s going to be “strongly recommending” National Guard troops in San Francisco. His timeline remains unclear, however, amid ongoing legal challenges.
