SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — After calling for President Trump to send the National Guard into San Francisco earlier this week, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff seems to now be taking a softer approach.
It all comes as the tech billionaire’s highly anticipated Dreamforce convention is set to kick off in the city on Tuesday.
In a new post on ‘X’, Benioff appears to back off his call for National Guard troops to be sent to San Francisco.
The Salesforce CEO wrote in part:
“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 had made his original comments in a recent interview with the New York Times – just days ahead of his Dreamforce conference.
Those remarks created a firestorm among local city leaders.
“San Francisco is on the rise,” Mayor Daniel Lurie Sunday. “I trust our local law enforcement. Crime is down 30%. We have a long way to go but I trust our local law enforcement to do their job and keep Salesforce and Dreamforce people safe.”
MORE: SF DA fires back after Salesforce CEO suggests Trump send National Guard to city
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who sat down with ABC7 News Friday, also took time to respond.
“To invite chaos into our city. No, Mr. Benioff needs to know that that’s not the solution. And I want the president to know we don’t want his version of law and order,” Jenkins said.
Benioff’s statements have gotten a lot of attention outside of San Francisco too.
That includes from Elon Musk, who on Sunday took to X to share several thoughts on the city, including how “SF downtown is a drug zombie apocalypse.”
Musk also shared a video made by local drug recovery advocate Tom Wolf.
“When is enough enough?” Wolf said.
In an interview Sunday, Wolf told ABC7 News he doesn’t agree with all of Benioff’s original sentiments.
But he does think there are elements of truth to them, especially around issues of drug addiction and homelessness.
“Last year, SFPD arrested all the drug dealers in San Francisco. They made 900 felony drug dealing arrests. Yet the drug market remains. Why is that?” said Wolf.
In order to fix the problem, Wolf thinks certain laws and policies need to be changed.
And if it takes federal help to clean up San Francisco’s streets, Wolf says he might support it depending on what it looks like.
“Nobody wants the federal troops to come. Nobody wants the national guard in San Francisco. But at the same time, we have to do our job,” he said.
Dreamforce is set to run from Tuesday through Thursday.
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