After a number of CEOs stepped down from their positions in President Donald Trump’s advisory councils this week, Trump unexpectedly dissolved the manufacturing council and strategy & policy forum on Wednesday after his stunning response to a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Like always, Trump decided to make his comments on Twitter immediately after a member of the Strategic and Policy Forum told CNBC the group had made the decision to disband.
In Wednesday’s tweet, Trump said he was going to dissolve the councils because he didn’t want to put “pressure on the businesspeople.”
It shouldn’t come as a total surprise to hear that corporate leaders and even well-known Republicans are distancing themselves from this president this week. In a jumbled Tuesday news conference, Trump seemed to equate torch-bearing white nationalists with the protesters who acted against them.
In response to Trump’s comments made both Saturday and Tuesday, several members of the manufacturing council resigned. This includes Merck (NYSE:$MRK) CEO Ken Frazier, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:$JNJ) CEO Alex Gorsky and United Technologies (NYSE:$UTX) CEO Greg Hayes.
Featured Image: twitter
