Trump disbands business councils
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — President Donald J. Trump disbanded two high-profile business advisory councils on Wednesday after several chief executive officers (CEOs) quit in protest over his remarks blaming weekend violence in Virginia on both white nationalists and anti-racism activists who opposed them.
Prominent Republicans and US ally Britain also rebuked Mr. Trump, leaving him increasingly isolated after his comments on Tuesday about the bloodshed in Charlottesville further enveloped his seven-month-old presidency in controversy.
The Phoenix mayor asked Mr. Trump to delay a rally planned for next Tuesday, an appeal the president appeared to reject.
A memorial service was held on Wednesday in Charlottesville for 32-year- old Heather Heyer, killed when a car plowed into anti-racism protesters. A 20-yearold Ohio man said to have harbored Nazi sympathies has been charged with murder.
Mr. Trump, a real estate magnate who had never before held public office, was elected president in November touting his experience in business and ability to strike deals. But some of the Republican president’s moves and words have alienated many corporate leaders.
Mr. Trump said he would dissolve the American Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum after eight executives including Campbell Soup Co. CEO Denise Morrison and 3M Co. CEO Inge Thulin quit the panels. Both of the councils were moving to disband on their own when Mr. Trump made his announcement on Twitter. “Rather than putting pressure on the business people of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both,” he wrote.
The Strategic and Policy Forum was headed by Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, a close ally of Mr. Trump in the business world.
Mr. Schwarzman organized a call on Wednesday for member executives to voice concerns after Mr. Trump’s comments, and an overwhelming majority backed disbanding the council, two sources said. —