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Elon Musk, shown at the White House in February, has backed Salesforce CEO Marc\u00a0Benioff\u2019s call for federal troops in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Alex Brandon\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
Elon Musk<\/a> has backed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff\u2019s call for federal troops<\/a> to be sent to San Francisco, a city that has become the latest\u00a0flash point in President Donald Trump\u2019s escalating campaign to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the only solution at this point,\u201d Musk wrote Sunday on X<\/a>. \u201cNothing else has or will work.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s endorsement came in response to a post by T. Wolf<\/a>, a recovery advocate and former homeless resident, who cited data showing more than 4,300 overdose deaths since 2020 and 90 kilograms of fentanyl seized by the San Francisco Police Department in the past year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wolf referenced a March 2025 survey by the conservative Voice of San Francisco<\/a>, which found that 61% of voters support federal intervention to deport undocumented fentanyl dealers. When those who \u201csomewhat agree\u201d are included, the total rises to 83%.<\/p>\n \u201cPretty much 80% of San Francisco wants federal intervention on deporting drug dealers,\u201d Wolf wrote. \u201cThat\u2019s how insane it\u2019s been here.\u201d<\/p>\n A group leaves Willow Street in the Tenderloin after being asked by police to vacate the area in September.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Manuel Orbegozo\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n The Voice of San Francisco framed the survey as a sign of \u201ccollective exasperation\u201d with local policies blamed for leniency toward fentanyl traffickers and addiction-related crime. The article argued that \u201ceven in a city renowned for its bleeding heart, there is a breaking point.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n On Saturday night, Musk revisited an old dispute with\u00a0Benioff over Proposition C, the 2018 tax measure that raised millions from large corporations to fund homelessness services in San Francisco.<\/p>\n \u201cBenioff needs to repeal the catastrophic Prop C that he pushed,\u201d Musk\u00a0wrote on X<\/a>, referring to the initiative Benioff personally backed with more than $7 million in donations. The two tech leaders have long clashed over the measure\u00a0\u2014 Musk calling it a drag on the city\u2019s economy, and Benioff defending it as a moral commitment to help San Francisco\u2019s most vulnerable residents.That renewed jab set the stage for Musk\u2019s unexpected show of alignment with Benioff after their long history of public disagreements.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s remarks followed Benioff\u2019s controversial comments to the New York Times<\/a> on Friday, in which the Salesforce CEO urged Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city to \u201crefund the police.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I\u2019m all for it,\u201d Benioff said of the National Guard soldiers.<\/p>\n The statement\u00a0\u2014 made aboard his private plane\u00a0\u2014 sparked swift backlash from California Democrats and San Francisco leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n District Attorney Brooke Jenkins accused Trump and his allies of turning public safety into \u201cgovernment-sponsored violence,\u201d while state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, called\u00a0Benioff\u2019s comments \u201cthe opposite\u201d of what the city needs.<\/p>\n Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, shown speaking at Dreamforce in San Francisco last\u00a0year,\u00a0 says the city needs federal troops to combat crime, including the fentanyl epidemic.<\/p>\n Bront\u00eb Wittpenn\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Benioff, whose company\u2019s\u00a0Dreamforce<\/a> convention begins Tuesday at Moscone Center, had previously said he may pull the event out of San Francisco due to crime but reaffirmed his commitment<\/a> to the city last year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited for Dreamforce this week,\u201d Benioff said in a lengthy X post<\/a> Sunday in which he took a softer stance, praising the efforts of Mayor Daniel\u00a0Lurie and the city\u2019s police department. \u201cAs a fourth-generation San Franciscan\u00a0\u2014 and ever since we started Salesforce here 26 years ago\u00a0\u2014 I\u2019ve 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. Keeping San Francisco safe is, first and foremost, the responsibility of our city and state leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m really excited for Dreamforce this week! As a fourth-generation San Franciscan \u2014 and ever since we started Salesforce here 26 years ago \u2014 I\u2019ve always believed that we make progress for our city when we work together across every level of leadership and every part of our\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Marc Benioff (@Benioff) October 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Once a prominent liberal donor,\u00a0Benioff\u00a0has recently aligned himself with Trump and other Silicon Valley figures seeking closer ties to the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In recent months, several industry leaders\u00a0\u2014 including Apple\u2019s Tim Cook, OpenAI\u2019s Sam Altman and Meta\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg\u00a0\u2014 have made concerted efforts to maintain cordial relations with the Trump White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n More than two dozen prominent tech figures attended a private dinner at the White House earlier this fall, signaling a new phase of pragmatic engagement between the tech sector and the administration.<\/p>\n The Times interview followed months of tension over Trump\u2019s federal troop deployments in other blue-state cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., many of which have triggered legal challenges.<\/p>\n Lurie\u2019s administration pushed back against claims of a city in crisis, citing a nearly 30% drop in crime citywide and the lowest rates \u201cin decades.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco Mayor Daniel\u00a0Lurie listens as District Attorney Brooke Jenkins discusses the fentanyl epidemic in January.<\/p>\n Lea Suzuki\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n According to a July San Francisco Chronicle analysis<\/a>, reported violent crime fell 19% and property crime 25% in the first half of 2025, continuing historic declines from the previous year.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Still, frustration persists over the fentanyl epidemic, which has killed thousands even as overall violence wanes. The tension between those calling for stronger enforcement and those warning against federal overreach highlights San Francisco\u2019s political and cultural divide.<\/p>\n For Musk, the comments mark another shift toward conservative activism.\u00a0<\/p>\n In recent weeks, he has called for a boycott of Los Gatos streaming giant Netflix<\/a>\u00a0over a transgender character even as he expanded his Neuralink operations<\/a> back into the Bay Area.<\/p>\n Whether Trump follows through on sending troops to San Francisco remains uncertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Federal judges have already blocked several of his recent deployments<\/a> as violations of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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