Once Donald Trump had reverted to his “blame both sides” stance on the repugnant white nationalist demonstrations in Charlottesville, it was near impossible for any US chief executive to continue to serve on his business advisory councils.
Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary, put it better than I could in a Financial Times article written before two of the business boards finally imploded last Wednesday. It was headlined “Why don’t all CEOs quit Trump’s advisory councils?” Now they have. The executives’ decision to disband preceded the president’s tweet implying he had fired them himself.
It was a messy end to a very messy public affair between Mr Trump and the executives — an outcome that also casts doubt on his boasts about his business-savviness, one central reason why people elected him.