President Donald Trump has declared that Microsoft needs to fire Lisa Monaco, the company’s president of global affairs. Trump noted that Monaco worked with both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, including as a deputy attorney general under the Biden administration, and that her current role gives her access to “Highly Sensitive Information,” which he deemed “unacceptable.”
Trump had rescinded Monaco’s security clearance earlier this year, in an order that did the same for Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and the Biden family. Trump wrote in his post, “She is a menace to the U.S. National Security, especially given the major contracts that Microsoft has with the United States Government. Because of Monaco’s many wrongful acts, the U.S. government recently stripped her of all Security Clearances, took away all of her access to National Security Intelligence, and banned her from all Federal Properties.”
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Far-right activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who had been long criticizing Microsoft for hiring Monaco, triumphantly quoted Trump’s post, and called on the president to “cancel all of Microsoft’s government contracts.”
Parts of the U.S. government use Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and productivity software. Earlier this month, Microsoft agreed to offer $3.1 billion in savings in one year on cloud services for agencies to use.
Trump had also made similar demands from Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, targeting him over alleged ties to China. “The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!” Trump posted on Truth Social. This came days after Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton raised concerns and pressed the chair of Intel’s board over the CEO’s alleged connections to China, questioning the integrity of the company and its impact on U.S. national security.
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Cotton stated in an earlier letter to the Intel Board, that Tan has personally and through various venture funds invested in hundreds of Chinese companies, some of which have ties to the country’s military. Intel said in a statement posted online that it looked forward to working with the U.S. government: “Intel, the Board of Directors, and Lip-Bu Tan are deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President’s America First agenda.”
Earlier this month, Trump agreed to purchase a significant stake in Intel. This investment was structured to deter the chipmaker from selling its manufacturing unit, according to the company’s chief financial officer.