After several CEOs announced their resignations from the White House's American Manufacturing Council, President Donald Trump has abruptly dissolved the council along with the separate Strategy and Policy Forum on Wednesday.
The council was formed back in January when Trump launched the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative as part of his effort to create American jobs. During that time, the White House said the president would be "meeting with some of the world's most successful and creative business leaders to share their experiences and gain their insights."
On Tuesday (Aug. 15), Trump initially tweeted that for every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, he had many to take their place. On Wednesday (Aug. 16), however, Trump announced that he was terminating the council rather than put pressure on business people.
Many business leaders were against Trump's confrontational response to a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that resulted in the death of a counter-protester after a white nationalist allegedly plowed through them with his car. Trump expressed that there was "blame on both sides," drawing criticism for his tolerance of bigotry and domestic terrorism.
Eight members of the American Manufacturing Council dropped from the panel following Trump's response including, 3M President and CEO Inge Thulin, Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing Scott Paul, president of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO's deputy chief of staff Thea Lee, Merck's Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour's Kevin Plank and Intel's Brian Krzanich . A ninth, Greg Hayes of United Technologies, announced his resignation just minutes after the president's tweet. Tesla founder Elon Musk left the manufacturing council and another presidential advisory group in June, citing his disagreement with Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.
