Trump says Microsoft should fire its global affairs head Lisa Monaco over her work in the Biden administration, calling her a “menace to US National Security”
President Trump late Friday demanded Microsoft fire its head of global affairs, Lisa Monaco, over her work in the Biden administration.
AxiosBen Berkowitz
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already been positioned as a company whose policy leadership intersects with national-security debates: Brad Smith urged tougher action against state-backed cyberattacks, while the company also faced earlier arguments that government pressure over TikTok could create a precedent for regulatory coercion. Smith's call for a stronger response to state-backed hacking makes the attack on Monaco especially consequential for Microsoft's public-affairs posture.
The demand also fits a wider pattern of presidential intervention directed at corporate personnel. Trump's earlier call for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign shows how national-security language can be used to place named executives and boards under immediate public pressure.
First-order effects
Microsoft and Lisa Monaco face an immediate governance and reputational test: whether the company publicly defends its global-affairs chief, changes her role, or leaves the demand unanswered.
The episode puts Microsoft's government-relations operation under sharper scrutiny, particularly because Monaco's prior public service is the stated basis for the attack.
Second-order effects
Other companies employing former officials may reassess how visibly they position those leaders in public-facing policy roles as comparable personnel demands become a political risk.
Corporate boards and senior executives may be pushed to engage more directly with the administration when attacks target leadership, as industry figures reportedly did after criticism of Intel's Lip-Bu Tan.
Third-order effects
If such demands recur without clear institutional resistance, executive appointments at major technology companies could become a more direct channel for political influence over corporate policy and advocacy.
The broader risk is a shift from policy disputes toward leader-specific pressure, blurring the boundary between national-security oversight and intervention in private-company governance.
The trend: This is one instance of a growing state-mediated technology environment in which national-security claims increasingly shape corporate leadership, lobbying, and strategic autonomy.
You heard what President Trump just said, @satyanadella. Fire Lisa Monaco. Gone are the days of Big Tech being two faced to get what they want from Trump. You think you can just walk into the White House and get what you want and simultaneously sell us out to the CCP and hire
Once again the reminder there are two types of “Trump derangement syndrome”. One deranged side finds such directives from the President (Hail Trump!) to be perfectly acceptable. The other side criticizes such actions, because they violate democratic (and capitalistic) norms.
Microsoft must know by now, eight months into Trump's second term, that any institution that gives in to him and his goons will inevitably be the target for even more demands in the near future. This doesn't end until institutions say no and fight back.
I've had the privilege of working for @LisaMonaco. She's a tough, brilliant patriot who puts the country's security first—something Trump and his lickspittles will never understand.
We live in a timeline where Laura Loomer has veto power over cabinet positions, national security leadership — and now, apparently, the executive hires at the world's 2nd most valuable company. [image]
It's always important to remember that K street isn't the lever by which business moves government as it's the proboscis through which politics extracts wealth and power from business.
Back in March, former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and I “sat” next to each other in Trump White House Victim Memorandum class. How embarrassing to see a sitting US President continue to personally attack a private citizen. People still think this isn't authoritarian? [ima…
JUST IN: After I alerted President Trump to the fact that @Microsoft has hired Lisa Monaco to be their new President of Global Affairs, he has just called on Microsoft to terminate her employment. @satyanadella are you going to comply? Or continue to be two faced? How dare you.
hey, BIll Gates. — You can be on the side of the Kimmels and Colberts here. — The Mandalas and the Walesas. — This is your legacy. — Your history. — Be strong. — DO. NOT. BEND. — www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/t...
Sept. 4: Microsoft CEO says “We are so grateful to the president, first lady and the entire administration for making it a national priority to prepare the next generation to harness AI's power.” — Sept. 26: ⤵️ — www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/t...
Last time he randomly attacked a CEO of a private company it was Intel and three days later they announced they were giving the US govt 10% of the company [image]