Marc Benioff, the billionaire CEO of Salesforce and owner of Time Magazine, has ignited a firestorm in San Francisco and beyond after publicly calling for the deployment of the National Guard to his hometown. His remarks, delivered just days before Salesforce’s massive Dreamforce conference, have sent ripples through political, business, and tech circles, highlighting deep divisions over public safety, policing, and the city’s future direction.
In an interview with The New York Times on October 10, 2025, Benioff did not mince words. Flying aboard his private jet, he declared, “We don’t have enough cops, so if [the National Guard] can be cops, I’m all for it.” He went on to praise President Donald Trump, stating, “I fully support the president. I think he’s doing a great job.” According to The New York Times, Benioff recounted how he had repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Trump, adding, “I don’t think anyone has hired more people or given more money or supported San Francisco more than I have.”
Benioff’s comments came as San Francisco prepared to host Dreamforce, which brings 50,000 attendees and, as he noted, requires hundreds of off-duty law enforcement officers to patrol the event’s perimeter. He argued that the city’s police force, currently about 1,500 strong, should be nearly doubled. “You’ll see. When you walk through San Francisco next week, there will be cops on every corner. That’s how it used to be,” he told the paper.
The tech titan’s public embrace of Trump and his call for federal intervention marked a dramatic shift from his past. Between 2022 and 2024, Benioff’s company donated over $23 million to the progressive Tides Foundation, and he once supported Hillary Clinton, even backing a business tax to fund homeless services. But as San Francisco continues to grapple with homelessness, crime, and slow economic recovery, Benioff’s pivot reflects a broader frustration among some business leaders who believe more aggressive measures are needed.
Not everyone was pleased. Local politicians swiftly condemned Benioff’s remarks. San Francisco supervisor Myrna Melgar told The New York Times that Benioff’s request for the National Guard “threw me for a loop.” She added, “It’s definitely out of step and out of touch with what most San Franciscans would want.” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was even more forceful, posting on X, “I can’t be silent any longer. @KristiNoem and @realDonaldTrump have turned so-called public safety and immigration enforcement into a form of government sponsored violence against U.S. citizens, families, and ethnic groups. Let me be clear. If you come to San Francisco and illegally harass our residents, use excessive force or cross any other boundaries that the law proscribes. I will not hesitate to do my job and hold you accountable just like I do other violators of the law every single day.”
Matt Dorsey, the city’s District 6 Supervisor, echoed these sentiments, calling Benioff’s initial comments “a slap in the face to San Francisco” on social media. Meanwhile, Mayor Daniel Lurie, when pressed for a response at the Italian Heritage Festival, struck a more measured tone: “I think crime is down in San Francisco. I trust our local law enforcement. I trust our SFPD.” Lurie’s spokesperson declined to say whether the mayor had spoken directly with Benioff about the controversy.
The reaction within the tech community was mixed, and at times, sharply divided. While some major players remained silent, preferring not to wade into the fraught debate, others were quick to offer their opinions. Elon Musk, never shy about controversy, posted on X, “It’s the only solution at this point. Nothing else has or will work.” Adam Nathan, CEO of Blaze AI, offered a more nuanced view: “Benioff is boot licking, but he’s not completely wrong. San Francisco allowed rampant drug dealing to go on for years. Thousands have died as a result, and our judges keep releasing them.”
Others pushed back on the idea of military intervention. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan wrote on X, “We don’t need the National Guard. We need new judges who are not hardcore Chesa Boudin-style activists who work to keep drug dealers out of jail even though the police, the district attorney and the people of SF want them locked up. It’s shockingly that simple.”
Benioff’s remarks also came amid a broader national debate over the use of federal troops in American cities. President Trump’s administration has previously ordered National Guard deployments to Los Angeles, Memphis, and Chicago as part of “Operation Midway Blitz,” often over the objections of state governors. Legal challenges have blocked some deployments, with federal judges ruling that the administration failed to prove crime was out of control or that protests interfered with federal enforcement. In August, Trump suggested sending troops to San Francisco, criticizing Democrats for the city’s condition. The proposal, however, faces significant legal and political hurdles, with critics like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker labeling such deployments an “outrageous assault” on states’ rights.
Despite Benioff’s dire warnings, city officials point out that crime in San Francisco has actually decreased in 2025. Then-Mayor London Breed stated in January that the crime rate was the lowest since 2001. Still, Benioff remained adamant about the need for more resources, revealing that Salesforce would donate $1 million toward hiring bonuses for new police officers. “Keeping San Francisco safe is, first and foremost, the responsibility of our city and state leaders,” he wrote in a lengthy clarification on X on October 12. “When I was recently asked about federal resources, my point was this: each year, to make Dreamforce as safe as possible for 50,000 attendees, we add 200 additional law enforcement professionals — coordinated across city, state, and other partners. It’s proof that collaboration works and a reminder that the city needs more resources to keep San Franciscans safe year-round.”
Benioff’s clarification, coming after days of headlines and social media uproar, sought to walk back the impression that he was calling for martial law. “San Francisco’s public safety challenges are real and complex, and we need to continue exploring every possible pathway to create a safer city for everyone,” he wrote. He also commended Mayor Lurie for rebuilding the police department’s ranks, noting that recruitment now outpaces attrition. “As a fourth-generation San Franciscan — and ever since we started Salesforce here 26 years ago — I’ve always believed that we make progress for our city when we work together across every level of leadership and every part of our community, especially when it comes to public safety.”
Neither Salesforce nor the Trump administration has commented further on the proposal to deploy the National Guard as of October 12, 2025. But Benioff’s shift — from liberal philanthropist and Clinton supporter to Trump ally calling for federal troops — has sparked intense debate about the future of San Francisco, the role of business in politics, and the limits of public-private collaboration in tackling urban challenges. As the city braces for Dreamforce and its annual influx of visitors, the conversation over how best to keep San Francisco safe is far from over.