Sat Oct 11 03:10:00 UTC 2025: **Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Signals Sharp Right Turn, Praises Trump Administration**
San Francisco, CA – Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, long considered a pillar of progressive politics in the tech industry, has publicly aligned himself with the Trump administration, sparking controversy just days before his company’s annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Benioff expressed support for deploying the National Guard to San Francisco and advocated for significantly increasing the city’s police force. “If they can be cops, I’m all for it,” he stated.
This marks a notable departure from Benioff’s past support for left-leaning causes and candidates, including Hillary Clinton. While his shift toward conservative viewpoints has been evident on his X account in recent months, his explicit endorsement of policies often associated with the right wing has drawn immediate criticism. Notably, Benioff admitted to not staying informed on recent news about immigration raids, gerrymandering laws, or the government shutdown.
The timing of Benioff’s comments, during an interview intended to highlight his $100 million philanthropic donation to UCSF children’s hospitals, led to visible frustration from his PR team and an abrupt end to the conversation.
San Francisco officials have already condemned Benioff’s stance. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins took to Twitter to denounce the potential deployment of the National Guard, accusing the Trump administration of turning public safety and immigration enforcement into “government-sponsored violence.”
Anticipating further action, political groups are mobilizing. Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, a moderate political group, announced an upcoming ad campaign targeting Trump, urging him to refrain from sending the National Guard to the city. The campaign includes billboards in Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago, as well as television ads on Fox Business, highlighting San Francisco’s efforts to address its challenges and shift towards the political center.
“We want to be more aggressive than what we’ve seen from other cities in countering the narrative,” said Jay Cheng, Executive Director of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco.
The shift in Benioff’s political alignment reflects a broader rightward trend in the San Francisco tech scene, but his high profile and outspoken nature ensure his views will continue to be debated and dissected in the lead-up to Dreamforce and beyond.
First Piper 