Trump disbands business councils as CEOs jump ship

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump dissolved two of his business councils on Wednesday amid widespread backlash from top American executives. “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!” Trump tweeted Wednesday afternoon. Starting on Monday, top CEOs began pulling out of Trump’s American Manufacturing Council because of the president’s response to Saturday’s white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Trump angered business leaders for not initially condemning the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. The president updated his comments Monday afternoon, casting blame on specific white supremacist groups. But he sparked new outcry on Tuesday when he said both the radical left and right shared blame for the violence that left one woman dead and 19 others injured. On Wednesday morning, several more CEOs announced they would leave the advisory groups, including 3M CEO Inge Thulin and Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison. “Following yesterday’s remarks from the president, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative,” Morrison said in a statement. “I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great.”