Trump’s brain trust coming up short

NEW YORK — Elon Musk of Tesla and Walt Disney’s Bob Iger have quit. Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric and JP-Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon have dissented.

President Donald Trump’s business brain trust — originally these executives, plus some 50 other chief executive officers chosen to help shape White House policy — has so far come up short on big ideas.

In fact, there’s been little activity for the strategy and policy forum and the manufacturing group, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. After initial meetings early in Trump’s presidency — which the White House promoted with great fanfare — his administration hasn’t convened the groups for months or set firm dates for future meetings, according to the people.

As turmoil has engulfed Washington, some prominent business leaders, including several of these informal advisers, have begun to distance themselves from the president. Tesla Inc. CEO Musk and Walt Disney Co. CEO Iger went even further, quitting in June after Trump withdrew from the Paris climate accord. Former Uber Technologies Inc. CEO Travis Kalanick quit in February, following Trump’s controversial executive order on immigration.

It’s a remarkable turnabout for the first CEO president, who pitched himself during the campaign as a savvy dealmaker who’d cut taxes and reduce regulations to unleash U.S. companies.

After vowing to impose business discipline on Washington and surrounding himself with executives, he’s presided over a chaotic administration that’s struggled to deliver businesslike results. He has been pushing to cut corporate tax rates — an issue dear to CEOs — but the effort is log-jammed behind the Obamacare battle and multiple investigations of Russia’s interference in the election, including possible ties to Trump’s team.