Trump credits Benioff and Hwang with their decision not to “surge” Fed forces in San Francisco

President Trump had planned an operation to “raid” San Francisco by pushing National Guard troops into the city, but was convinced to change course, Trump said in a post on his social network Truth Social on Thursday. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff were among the prominent figures in the tech industry who contacted him and convinced him to change his mind, the post said.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie confirmed in a statement that the military operation had been planned and called off, although he did not name those who had held talks with the president.

Benioff’s involvement is particularly notable. Earlier this month — shortly before Salesforce held its massive tech conference in San Francisco, where it is headquartered — Benioff (who was born and raised there) said he supports Trump. He also said he believes National Guard troops should be sent to patrol its streets. The comment caused venture capital legend Ron Conway to resign from his decade-long board seat at the Salesforce charity and condemn the comments and his friend Benioff.

Benioff immediately apologized and retracted his desire for National Guard patrols. “…After the largest, safest Dreamforce in our history, I don’t think there’s a need for the National Guard to address safety in San Francisco,” Benioff said in a post on X earlier this month. So, it appears the CEO has redoubled his efforts and taken the issue to the White House as well.

Mayor Lowry will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco next week. Maybe we’ll hear more about how the city, the center of the AI ​​industry, is improving safety and mobilizing efforts to calm the situation.