US President Donald Trump has demanded Microsoft fire its recently appointed head of global affairs Lisa Monaco.
Using his personal social network, Trump argued that Monaco’s time serving the Obama and Biden administrations – which both investigated the current president’s actions – makes her an unsuitable Microsoft employee because the software giant’s many US government contracts means she can access “Highly Sensitive Information.”
“Monaco’s having that kind of access is unacceptable,” Trump asserted, before concluding “It is my opinion that Microsoft should immediately terminate the employment of Lisa Monaco.”
Trump made similar remarks about Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan in August, accusing him of being loyal to China and therefore unfit to lead the chipmaker.
The CEO quickly visited the White House, after which Trump praised his leadership qualities, before landing a deal that saw Uncle Sam take a ten percent stake in Intel in return for grants previously authorized under the CHIPS Act.
Influential right-wing activist Laura Loomer claimed she alerted Trump about Monaco’s appointment, and challenged Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to “comply” with Trump’s wishes.
Microsoft does have myriad contracts with the US government, but it is far from certain that Monaco – or other senior Microsoft execs – therefore enjoy access to “Highly Sensitive Information” that would endanger the USA’s national security.
Trump’s post mentions incidents such as “Deep State Conspiracies” that he has often claimed represent attempts to persecute him and his followers.
Microsoft has not responded to Trump’s call at the time of writing.
It is highly unusual for elected officials to publicly call for personnel changes at private businesses.
This incident therefore represents a fascinating moment for Microsoft, which has surely observed several other giant US corporations such as broadcaster ABC quickly move to settle lawsuits brought by Trump during his time as president.
Some of those settlements came while companies waited for regulators to approve deals or decisions.
Microsoft is not waiting on federal approval for any major initiative. Indeed, Washington has recently moved to make it easier for the software giant to do things like build datacenters, and has eased regulations on AI in ways that benefit Redmond.
The Trump administration could conceivably threaten to cancel some Microsoft contracts, which could benefit the likes of Google, Oracle, and AWS – but would also likely increase cost Washington big bucks on migration projects. Any decision to replace Microsoft would therefore be at odds with the administration’s policy of cutting wasteful government spending. ®
