Yesterday, Donald Trump announced on social media that he had been planning to “surge” troops into San Francisco this weekend—but was dissuaded from doing so by several tech billionaires.
“Friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge,” Trump wrote.
Who are these “friends”? Trump named “great people like [Nvidia CEO] Jensen Huang, [Salesforce CEO] Marc Benioff, and others” who told him that “the future of San Francisco is great. They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”
Ludicrously wealthy tech execs have exerted unparalleled sway over Trump in the last year. Not content with obsequious flattery—at one recent White House dinner, Sam Altman called Trump “a pro-business, pro-innovation president” who was “a very refreshing change,” while Tim Cook praised the legendarily mercurial Trump’s “focus and your leadership”—tech leaders have also given Trump shiny awards, built him a bulletproof ballroom, and donated massive sums to help him get elected.
Most of these execs also have major business before the federal government and have specific “asks” around AI regulation, crypto, tariffs, regulations, and government contracts.
Now, tech execs are even helping to shape the militarization of American cities.
Consider Benioff, for instance. On October 10, he gave an interview to The New York Times in which he spoke to a reporter “by telephone from his private plane en route to San Francisco.” (Benioff lives in Hawaii most of the time now.)
His big annual “Dreamforce” conference was about to take place in San Francisco, and Benioff lamented the fact that he had to hire so much security to make attendees feel safe. (Over the last decade, several Ars staffers have witnessed various unpleasant incidents involving urine, sidewalk feces, and drug use during visits around downtown San Francisco, so concerns about the city are not illusory, though critics say they are overblown.)
Benioff’s proposed solution was controversial. He wanted the city to nearly double its police force by adding 1,000 more cops—and he also backed Trump’s idea to send federal troops into San Francisco. “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” he said. Federal troops cannot generally “be cops” in US cities, though there are exceptions.
Then Benioff, who has been well-known for donating huge amounts of money to San Francisco and has generally been seen as centrist or liberal, really let loose.
“I fully support the president,” he said. “I think he’s doing a great job.”
During the interview, Mr. Trump’s voice could be heard in the background. Mr. Benioff was watching a YouTube video about the Israeli hostage release deal, for which he praised the president.
Benioff then recounted how he was invited to the state dinner held last month in the UK with King Charles, and he said that he spent the meal seated across from Trump, telling him “how grateful I am for everything he’s doing.”
Benioff also praised DOGE, Elon Musk, and texted the reporter a picture of himself hanging out with “Mr. Musk and a Tesla robot.” (After the interview ran, Musk responded to it by writing that “SF downtown is a drug zombie apocalypse” and praised the idea of federal intervention.)
The interview ends with these immortal words:
[Benioff] turned to a public relations executive. He could be heard asking why her mouth was wide open and if he had said anything he shouldn’t have.
“What about the political questions?” he asked. “Too spicy?”
Then he hung up.
It was definitely a bit picante, yes. California governor Gavin Newsom, who was formerly the mayor of San Francisco and was a close friend of Benioff’s, took particular offense to the interview and to the suggestion that federal troops be sent in.
On October 17, Benioff apologized.
“Having listened closely to my fellow San Franciscans and our local officials, and after the largest and safest Dreamforce in our history, I do not believe the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco,” he wrote on social media. “My earlier comment came from an abundance of caution around the event, and I sincerely apologize for the concern it caused. It’s my firm belief that our city makes the most progress when we all work together in a spirit of partnership.”
Meanwhile, Trump had been asking FBI Director Kash Patel “at the request of government officials” to “start looking at San Francisco… one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and now it’s a mess.” On October 19, Trump said, “I think they want us in San Francisco.”
With the plan to send in troops ramping up, Benioff apparently called Trump on October 22 and helped convince him to hold off.
Depending on your politics, this may look like a good or a bad decision—but it’s hard to believe that it’s a good process for making important national choices.
Increasingly, major actions like punitive tariffs on specific companies, the ownership of TikTok, and even the presence of federal troops on the street come down not to predictable law or policy… but to whether you’ve got a Trump-flattering tech billionaire on your side.
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