Trump Demands Microsoft Fire Its Head of Global Affairs

Lisa Monaco in 2024 (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Key Points

• President Trump demanded Microsoft fire Lisa Monaco, the company’s head of global affairs, citing her as a “menace to U.S. National Security.”
• Trump stated the federal government stripped Monaco of security clearances.
• Microsoft’s stock decreased by 0.2% in after-hours trading on Friday.

President Donald Trump on Friday demanded that Microsoft fire its head of global affairs, Lisa Monaco, who served as deputy attorney general during the Biden administration and homeland security advisor in the Obama administration.

“She is a menace to U.S. National Security, especially given the major contracts that Microsoft has with the United States Government,” Trump wrote in a Friday post on Truth Social.

In the fiscal 2025 year, Microsoft received $337 billion in federal awards (such as contracts, grants, and loans), about three quarters of which was from the Department of Defense, according to the official spending data for the U.S. government.

The president said that the federal government has stripped Monaco of all security clearances, took away her access to national security intelligence, and banned her from federal properties due to her “many wrongful acts.”

Monaco’s role at Microsoft would allow her access to “highly sensitive information” wrote the president, adding that it is “unacceptable.”

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s post marks the latest example of his administration’s effort to exercise control over corporate America.

Earlier this year, Trump demanded the resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, a former venture capitalist with a history of international investment, including in China. Just days later, Trump changed his stand after meeting Tan, praising his career as an “amazing story.”

Microsoft’s stock was down 0.2% in after-hours trading on Friday.

Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com