CEO council was a stupid thing, but it is no more...

Trump disbands CEO councils as business leaders desert

'I am ending both,' he tweets.

By DAN DIAMOND

Faced with a stampede of CEO defections, President Donald Trump tweeted early this afternoon that he was disbanding both of his advisory groups of business leaders.

"Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" Trump tweeted shortly after 1:15 p.m.

The president's tweet followed the announcements Wednesday that the leaders of Minnesota-based 3M and Campbell Soup had quit his manufacturing council, while a second strategic and advisory group was on the verge of collapse.

"Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville," said Denise Morrison, the head of Campbell Soup, who became the 8th executive to announce in a statement that she was leaving the manufacturing council. "I believe the President should have been — and still needs to be — unambiguous on that point."

Inge Thulin, the CEO of Minnesota-based 3M, announced earlier in the day that he was leaving the manufacturing council. Thulin said he joined the group “to advocate for policies that align with our values and encourage even stronger investment and job growth” — but “I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle” to achieve those goals.

Trump's strategic and advisory council — a separate group chaired by key ally Steven Schwarzman, the head of Blackstone — was reportedly on the verge of disbanding, CNBC and the New York Times reported.

"Everyone is totally disgusted by this," a source familiar with the group's operations told POLITICO. Executives are reportedly split over whether to issue statements on Trump's comments about the Charlottesville protesters.

The president’s renewed defense of protesters on Tuesday reignited pressure from activists, who have called on the companies to walk away from the symbolic council or face boycotts.

The leaders of Merck, Under Armour, Intel, the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the AFL-CIO said earlier in the week that they were quitting the manufacturing council, which still has as many as 11 members. Thea Lee, an economist who previously worked at AFL-CIO, also announced that she was leaving the council on Tuesday.

White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters declined to comment.