US President Donald Trump says he is ending a pair of White House advisory councils that were staffed by corporate chief executives.
CEOs have been resigning since Saturday, when Mr Trump blamed both sides for the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and counter-protesters.
The resignations accelerated after Mr Trump again blamed “both sides” on Tuesday.
Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017
Mr Trump said on Twitter: “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!”
Standing in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, Mr Trump acknowledged there were “some very bad people” among those who gathered to protest on Saturday. But he added: “You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”
Trump’s remarks were widely criticised in Washington and around the country.
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