Prez quits deal, Musk exits his councils
Washington, June 2: Tesla Inc chief executive officer Elon Musk and Walt Disney Co CEO Robert Iger said on Thursday that they would leave White House advisory councils after US President Donald Trump said he would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
“Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” Musk said in a Twitter post. He is a member of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a business advisory group, and Trump’s manufacturing jobs council.
Musk said on Wednesday that he had done “all I can” to convince Trump to stay in the accord, and threatened to leave the presidential advisory councils if Trump announced a US exit from the accord.
Iger wrote on Twitter that “as a matter of principle, I’ve resigned from the President’s Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal.” He is leaving the business advisory group. Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick quit the business advisory council in February amid pressure from activists and employees who opposed the administration’s immigration policies.
Trump created the business advisory group in December before taking office to assist him in making policy decisions. The group is led by Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group LP, and includes Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo Inc and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co . Late on Thursday, BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink said he would continue to serve on Trump’s CEO Forum.