US President Donald Trump has reversed a planned federal deployment to San Francisco after receiving late-night phone calls from two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful executives, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. The President explained that these tech leaders spoke highly of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s progress in addressing crime and revitalizing the city. Lurie had carefully avoided provoking Trump throughout the escalating situation, instead emphasizing San Francisco’s improving trajectory, touting returning visitors, leased buildings, and workers coming back to offices. California Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders swiftly rejected the idea of federal troops, noting San Francisco’s declining crime rates. Benioff subsequently issued an apology on October 17, stating he no longer believed the National Guard was needed and expressing regret for “the concern it caused”.
