Trump ends manufacturing panel after 3M CEO exits
Updated 12:20 p.m. | Posted 11:40 a.m.
President Trump Wednesday disbanded his Manufacturing Advisory Council. The move came shortly after 3M CEO Inge Thulin announced he was quitting the panel, following other prominent CEOs in the wake of Trump's response to a violent weekend white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
"Sustainability, diversity and inclusion are my personal values and also fundamental to the 3M Vision," Inge said in a statement released by the company Wednesday morning.
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"I joined the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative in January to advocate for policies that align with our values and encourage even stronger investment and job growth — in order to make the United States stronger, healthier and more prosperous for all people," he added. "After careful consideration, I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle for 3M to advance these goals."
The Maplewood-based company will "continue to champion an environment that supports sustainability, diversity and inclusion," he added. "I am committed to building a company that improves lives in every corner of the world."
Shortly after Thulin's announcement, Campbell Soup Co. CEO Denise Morrison announced her resignation from Trump's panel.
Trump on Tuesday ripped into business leaders who'd already resigned from his White House jobs panel — the latest sign that corporate America's romance with Trump is faltering — after his equivocal response to violence by the white supremacists.
On Twitter, he called them "grandstanders" and said he had plenty of executives available to take their place. The president added that he believes economic growth in the U.S. will heal its racial divide.
After Thule and Morrison resigned, Trump said on Twitter he had decided to get rid of the manufacturing panel as well as a second business advisory group. "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both," he wrote. "Thank you all!"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.