Trump Abandons Plan for Council on Infrastructure
President Donald Trump will not move forward with a planned Advisory Council on Infrastructure, a person familiar with the matter said Aug. 17.
The council, which was still being formed, would have advised Trump on his plan to spend as much as $1 trillion upgrading roads, bridges and other public works.
The action follows Trump announcing on Aug. 16 that he was disbanding two other business advisory councils. Corporate CEOs had started to quit the panels in protest over Trump’s remarks that appeared to confer legitimacy on white supremacists following a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12.
Trump had tapped New York developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth, whom he described as friends, to lead the panel, which he established by an executive order on July 19. But he had not made any formal appointments to it. Neither LeFrak nor Roth immediately responded to requests for comment.
The council, which was supposed to have representatives from real estate, finance, labor and other sectors, was designed to study and make recommendations to the president regarding the funding, support and delivery of infrastructure projects.
With assistance by Justin Sink
