On Wednesday, President Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum decided to disband. A member of the group, comprised of top business leaders and led by Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, told CNBC that the break-up was due to Trump's response to the weekend's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump was slow to directly condemn the white nationalists, and he has repeatedly blamed "both sides" for the rally's violence.
"As our members have expressed individually over the past several days, intolerance, racism, and violence have absolutely no place in this country and are an affront to core American values," the members said in a statement to CNBC. "We believe the debate over forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans." An executive told CNBC that "the thinking it was important to do as a group," not as "individuals, because it would have a more significant impact."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - February 8, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - gettin' outta DOGE, Senate confirmations, and more
-
5 meritorious cartoons about the war on DEICartoons Artists take on self-evident truths, recent history, and more
-
Bucatini alla zozzona recipeThe Week Recommends Classic Roman dish is 'slurpy, fun and absolutely heavenly'
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
