The president and CEO of 3M announced Wednesday he is resigning from President Trump’s manufacturing council, joining a growing list of business leaders who have departed the panel this week.
“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 to all people,” Inge Thulin, president and CEO of 3M, said in a statement. “After careful consideration, I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle for 3M to advance these goals.”
— 3M (@3M) August 16, 2017
Thulin is the seventh CEO to leave Trump’s manufacturing council this week in the wake of Trump’s remarks Saturday in response to violence in Charlottesville, Va.
During initial comments about the clash between white nationalist groups and counter-protesters, Trump blamed “many sides.”
Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Brzanich, and Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul each announced their resignations from the panel this week.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Thea Lee, an economist working with the labor federation, stepped down Tuesday evening following Trump’s press conference at Trump Tower on Tuesday afternoon, during which the president reiterated his statement that both sides were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville.
Trump dismissed the members of the manufacturing council who stepped down from his panel Tuesday, saying they were “embarrassed” for making their products outside the U.S. and were “not taking their jobs seriously as it pertains to this country.”
Of the 28 original members, 17 remain. Three others have stepped down after leaving their respective companies, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk left the group after Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement.
