Trump also ends plans for his Infrastructure Council

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump has changed his mind about a planned Advisory Council on Infrastructure, the White House said in a statement Thursday.

"The President's Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which was still being formed, will not move forward," according to the White House pool report.

The council, which was created by a Trump executive order in July, would have recommended the president spend up to $1 trillion renovating roads, bridges and other public works.

The action came a day after Trump announced he was disbanding two business advisory councils amid a flurry of resignations by members rejecting his remarks about a deadly hate rally in Charlottesville, VA last weekend.

Trump set up the manufacturing council in January to get advice from business leaders about revitalizing that industry -- a major focus of his campaign.

The Strategic and Policy Forum, separate from the manufacturing council, was a group of business executives tapped to advise Trump on the economy.

Prior to the rally last Saturday, hundreds marched on the University of Virginia campus Friday night, holding torches reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan gatherings.

The two-day protest is thought to be the largest recent gathering of white nationalists.

The business advisory council defections were prompted by Trump's reactions to a white supremacist rally that left one woman dead and nearly 20 others injured after a car rammed into counter-protesters.