On October 25, according to the Wall Street Journal, US President Trump was originally preparing to send the military into San Francisco, but the city’s business leaders found a way to dissuade him. Trump finally announced Thursday after a series of tense phone calls and text messages between Trump and members of his administration, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and the CEOs of major Bay Area tech companies.He has decided not to use federal troops in a law enforcement "surge" in San Francisco.


Jen-Hsun Huang and Trump

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff participated in the mediation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose involvement has not been previously reported, also weighed in.

These business leaders facilitated Luo Wei’s Wednesday night phone call with Trump and helped him negotiate a persuasive narrative:Given San Francisco's core position in the AI ​​wave, sending federal troops may trigger social unrest, which will not only severely damage the local economy, but also have a chain reaction on the national economy.

Trump has previously floated the possibility of sending the National Guard to San Francisco for quasi-police operations, as he has done in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Memphis. However, after Benioff stated through the New York Times on October 10 that the National Guard was needed to combat crime in San Francisco, the idea was quickly put on the agenda.


Ultraman and Trump

According to people familiar with the call, Benioff apologized for the remarks a week later and said in a call with Trump on October 19 that his company's annual Dreamforce conference ended successfully without major security incidents, which changed his position. However, Trump declared on Fox News that day, "We are going into San Francisco." Three days later, the Department of Homeland Security indeed dispatched Customs and Border Protection agents to Coast Guard bases in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Over the past few days, Mayor Luo Wei's office has been flooded with calls from local business and political leaders. They are eager to avoid clashes that could trigger mass protests and bring offices and businesses to a standstill.

Mayor Luo Wei is a 48-year-old Democrat who holds public office for the first time. The heir to the Levi's family fortune has used his private assets to help his campaign. As mayor, he made a point of engaging with business leaders to accelerate the economic recovery of the downtown area.

Behind the scenes lobbying

In contrast to California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, Luo has avoided public conflict with Trump, who happens to have many representatives of Bay Area technology companies in his administration and advisory team. Luo Wei's first direct contact with Trump benefited from his relatively clean political resume and a group of influential intermediaries in the White House.

According to people familiar with the matter,Huang Renxun is one of the key intermediaries. The Nvidia CEO called Trump on Wednesday and not only provided Luo Wei's contact information, but also informed Trump that,Luo Wei is eager to explain to Trump his efforts to improve public safety and improve the business environment in San Francisco. Although Nvidia is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Huang also has a private residence in San Francisco.

Altman served on Luo Wei's transition team. He also told Trump that he should listen to the mayor, people familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s head of global policy, Chris Lehane, is in frequent contact with the mayor’s office. In addition to contacting Trump directly, San Francisco business leaders also contacted White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Vice President Vance and AI and Cryptocurrency Commissioner David Sacks.


Benioff changes stance

Benioff eventually joined the campaign against Trump. His comments came days after he called for the National Guard to be sent to San Francisco, testing his relationship with other San Francisco leaders and leaders in the tech community. Influential angel investor Ron Conway resigned from the board of directors of the Salesforce Foundation in protest. Although Salesforce had announced that Benioff and Luo Wei would attend a press conference together on the first day of the Dreamforce conference, after his National Guard remarks were released, the event was no longer included in the public schedule released by the mayor's office.

On Thursday, Trump first posted on his social media "Truth Social" and then announced at a press conference that he would not send additional troops to San Francisco.He attributed the change in attitude to communication with Huang Jen-Hsun, Benioff and others, as well as a phone call with Luo Wei.

In his own press conference, Luo Wei described his message to Trump as a position he had carefully honed through numerous text messages and phone calls with tech industry allies.

"The message I conveyed to the president is exactly what I promised to the citizens," Luo Wei said. "San Francisco is revitalizing: tourists are returning, office leasing and sales are active, and employees are returning to the office... But the presence of military force or militarized immigration enforcement operations in the city will hinder our recovery process."