President Trump announced Wednesday that he has dissolved the White House’s economic advisory council and manufacturing council — panels that consisted of business leaders from firms such as BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, IBM and PepsiCo. “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, one of corporate America’s leading African American executives, was the first to step down this week. 11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with additional information about departures from the manufacturing council and President Trump’s reactions. 10:50 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details, including background on comments from President Trump and Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 16, 2017 17:25 UTC