19 August, 2017
Scores of Republican politicians and business leaders have distanced themselves from the president after his comments following the terrorist attack in Charlottesville, with the president's business advisory councils choosing to disband, and former Republican elected officials Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger blasting Trump's excuse-making for participants in a march that attracted neo-Nazi and white supremacist elements.
Investor Carl Icahn announced Friday that he is stepping down from his role as special adviser to President Trump on issues relating to regulatory reform.
Announcing the departure in a series of tweets and a letter posted on his website, Icahn characterized his exit - which came on the same day as the departure of presidential adviser Stephen Bannon - as a mutual decision after he and Trump spoke earlier Friday.
Icahn expressed support for the ability of Trump's "regulatory czar" Neomi Rao as someone who could achieve the goal that Trump appointed him for, limiting regulation.
The value of Icahn's stake in the Texas refiner increased some $491 million between November 8 and August 2 to about $1.4 billion, a period that starts with Trump's election and the day before reports surfaced that the Trump administration was set to reject the bid to relieve refiners of the biofuels burden.
Icahn maintains that despite criticism from Democrats, he never had access to "nonpublic information or profited from [his] position".
I never had a formal position with your administration nor a policymaking role.
Biofuels regulations require refiners either to blend biofuels into gasoline or - in the case of companies like CVR that have no blending facilities - to buy credits from competitors. Indeed, out of an abundance of caution, the only issues I ever discussed with you were broad matters of policy affecting the refining industry. "I never sought any special benefit", Icahn added.
Moreover, Bloomberg reported, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter in July asking Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about Icahn's potential role in a regulatory decision that affected American International Group Inc.
"Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world's great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated", Trump said when he tapped Icahn for the advisory spot in December.
