Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Walks Back Call for National Guard to San Francisco

After a weeklong media storm, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on Friday apologized for comments he made last week supporting sending National Guard troops to San Francisco.

“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,” Benioff wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

The apology comes one day after venture capitalist Ron Conway announced he was leaving the board of Salesforce’s philanthropic arm after nearly a decade.

Conway, who has donated millions of dollars to moderate Democratic candidates in San Francisco elections, said in his resignation email that recent comments from the Salesforce CEO led to his decision, according to The New York Times.

“I have expressed candidly to you, repeatedly, in recent days, that I am shocked and disappointed by your comments calling for an unwanted invasion of San Francisco by federal troops,” he wrote in the email, “and by your willful ignorance and detachment from the impacts of the ICE immigration raids of families with NO criminal record.”

Benioff had previously told the New York Times that he supported President Donald Trump and would back his efforts to deploy the National Guard in the city and called for San Francisco to “refund” the police department.

Trump, this year, has deployed the National Guard to Democratic strongholds like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago.

San Francisco is shy several hundred officers from its recommended staffing levels; however, the city never defunded the police, and the department’s budget has increased, even as the city faced a major budget deficit this year that led to cuts across other city agencies.

City officials were quick to fire back at Benioff’s comments, pointing out that crime has decreased citywide by nearly 30% in the last year.

Mayor Daniel Lurie, who has refrained from calling out Trump directly, defended the city’s law enforcement when asked about Benioff’s comments during a press conference on Tuesday.

“I trust our local law enforcement,” Lurie said. “We are going to be relentless on keeping San Franciscans safe, keeping our tourists safe, and keeping those who come for conventions safe.”

Hours after the conference, Trump said San Francisco is on his list of cities that federal law enforcement should look to “next.”

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told reporters that federal troops already deployed in cities like Chicago continue to “spiral out of control.”

“Tear gas is being deployed, assaults are happening. We just cannot afford to have what is happening [in Chicago] go on here,” Jenkins said. “It is not promoting law and order. It is NOT promoting safety. It is promoting chaos, terror and fear.”

Jenkins has largely dismissed police shooting cases locally. But the DA said she would “hold any law enforcement officer accountable, including ICE and anyone else, if they cross the bounds of the law, which includes using excessive force, harassing tactics, anything that I believe crosses the line.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta also told reporters this week he would challenge any National Guard deployment to San Francisco in court. In September, a judge ruled that Trump violated the law this summer when he sent troops to Los Angeles during protests against increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests. Other states, such as Illinois and Oregon, have also sued the Trump Administration over unsolicited deployments to major cities.

Lurie spoke to Benioff on Sunday after his conversation with the Times went viral. The Salesforce CEO attempted to clarify some of his comments in the following days, as the company’s flagship technology conference, called Dreamforce, took place downtown.

Benioff later said he was supporting public safety in San Francisco and wants to see an increase in policing. The National Guard cannot carry out local law enforcement duties, however. And it is common for companies to hire additional security to be brought in temporarily for massive events like Dreamforce, which brings in thousands of people.

Benioff’s message on Friday was more direct.

“My earlier comment came from an abundance of caution around the event, and I sincerely apologize for the concern it caused,” Benioff said. “It’s my firm belief that our city makes the most progress when we all work together in a spirit of partnership.”

The apology from Benioff, once considered among the more progressive tech executives, did not walk back his support for Trump.