Donald Trump scraps business councils as executives resign

Donald Trump has disbanded two business advisory groups after several chief executives resigned in protest at his handling of violent protests in Charlottesville last weekend.

One woman died and at least 20 more were injured when a far-right protester drove his car into an anti-fascist demonstration.

"The collapse of the advisory bodies follows seven different corporate leaders stepping down from the two councils in recent days, including the CEOs of both Campbell's Soup and 3M on Wednesday," The Guardian says.

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JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, who was serving on the Strategy and Policy Forum, had not yet resigned but had distanced himself from Trump's statements following the violent protests.

"Constructive economic and regulatory policies are not enough and will not matter if we do not address the divisions in our country," he said. "It is a leader's role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart."

Trump claimed that the decision to disband the groups was his.

"The president was under pressure to explicitly condemn white supremacists who were behind Saturday's far-right rally," the BBC reports, but he "reversed course on Tuesday and instead appeared to defend the rally's organisers".