The one-sentence venture into the Twittersphere - by a CEO whose Wall Street firm has the most former employees in the administration - was but a drop in the waterfall of discord on Mr Trump's decision, announced on Thursday. Walt Disney chief executive Bob Iger and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk both withdrew from a presidential jobs panel as a result. GE goss Jeff Immelt said after the "disappointing decision" that "industry must now lead and not depend on government." Credit:Goh Seng Chong And such blue-chip US titans as General Electric, Ford Motor, Dow Chemical and Microsoft were among companies weighing in with their dismay.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson's response was, perhaps, the most personal: The decision, he wrote, made him "want to cry". Gary Cohn, who was Mr Blankfein's deputy for more than a decade, defended Mr Trump on CNN, saying, "What President Trump believes is that he was elected to grow the US economy and provide great job opportunities for American citizens. "What he believes he did today was do exactly that," he said. The former Goldman executive repeated that position as Wolf Blitzer asked three times whether Mr Trump stood by his past tweets labelling global warming a hoax. Ultimately, Mr Cohn said, "You're going actually have to ask him."

GE's Jeffrey Immelt, responding to Mr Trump's decision on the President's favourite social-media forum, was more direct. "Climate change is real," he tweeted. "Industry must now lead and not depend on government." Dow CEO Andrew Liveris, meanwhile, stopped short of walking away from his role on the panel Mr Musk and Mr Iger abandoned. While Mr Liveris wrote in an email that he was disappointed with Mr Trump's decision, he said he understands "there are always many potential solutions to challenges and are eager to work toward alternative solutions".

Musk response Mr Musk said he would follow through on his earlier pledge to quit the council should Mr Trump abandon Paris. "Climate change is real," he tweeted. "Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world." Mr Iger, who in March had vowed to stay on the council to maintain "a voice in the room" with the President, changed his mind on Thursday. "As a matter of principle, I've resigned from the President's Council over the Paris Agreement withdrawal," he tweeted.

Even Twitter's leader felt the need to respond. "This is an incredibly shortsighted move backwards by the federal government," tweeted CEO Jack Dorsey. "We're all on this planet together and we need to work together."

The response follows months of letters and outreach to Mr Trump from companies in industries as diverse as manufacturing, technology and energy to remain part of the 195-nation accord, making arguments that went well beyond sustainability, good corporate citizenship or the need for American leadership. While Mr Trump's explanation for exiting the accord was, in part, that it would hurt domestic manufacturing and cost US jobs, appeals by chief executives to the President have been largely business-focused, saying rather that an exit threatens American competitiveness, raises the risk of negative trade implications and could hurt their ability to create jobs. Leading up to the announcement, several chief executives made final arguments to Mr Trump or issued pleas for staying in the deal. Bloomberg reported that on Tuesday Apple chief executive Tim Cook placed a call to the White House to urge the President to stay in. The same day, Mr Musk tweeted an open threat to Mr Trump, saying he would lose him on the business advisory councils if Mr Trump exited the accord.

"I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain," Mr Musk wrote. When a follower asked him what he would do if Mr Trump makes the call to exit, Mr Musk said he would have "no choice" but to leave the White House councils of which he is a member. The final push by chief executives also included letters that were featured in full-page ads in newspapers, such as one signed by 25 companies that ran in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal on Thursday and earlier in May. The ads were sponsored by the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions and the sustainability non-profit Ceres and included a shorter version of a letter that was first signed in April, arguing that "the United States can best exercise global leadership and advance US interests by remaining a full partner in this vital global effort". Google, Intel, Unilever and Schneider Electric were just a few of the names that signed the letter.

Before Mr Trump made his decision public, oil explorers Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and BP also reiterated their support for the global agreement. Their argument: the US is better off with a seat at the table so it can influence global efforts to curb emissions that are largely produced by the fossil fuels they profit from. Exxon meeting Exxon CEO Darren Woods took it a step further during the company's annual investor meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. He reiterated his commitment to the Paris pact's goals and methods, and said oil demand would continue to grow in the coming decades, even with the Paris agreement in place. "Energy needs are a function of population and living standards," Mr Woods said during his first annual meeting since becoming CEO on January 1.

"When it comes to policy, the goal should be to reduce emissions at the lowest cost to society." Mr Woods has been a staunch advocate for keeping the US in the Paris group, as was his predecessor Rex Tillerson, who is now Mr Trump's secretary of state. In his first blog post after becoming CEO, Mr Woods advocated low-emission fuels, carbon capture and bio-fuels as tools for meeting the goals of the Paris agreement. Conoco, the world's largest independent oil producer by market value, also expressed support for the climate agreement on Wednesday. "It gives the US the ability to participate in future climate discussions to safeguard its economic and environmental best interests," spokesman Daren Beaudo said in an email.

BP CEO Bob Dudley said that even if the US quit, the nation should find new policies to support the inevitable transition to a low-carbon economy. "We've got to transition the world to lower-carbon forms of energy," Mr Dudley said in an interview on Thursday on Bloomberg Television in St Petersburg, Russia. What's next If Mr Trump quits the accord, Mr Dudley said before the decision was announced, "we need to be really clear - rather than just walking away from it - what you put in place in the United States". Industrial concerns and Wall Street weren't alone in condemning Mr Trump's decision.

Microsoft president Brad Smith and blue-jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co's Chip Bergh joined the chorus of displeased executives. "We're disappointed with the decision to exit the Paris Agreement. Microsoft remains committed to doing our part to achieve its goals," Mr Smith tweeted. While Mr Trump, in defence of his action, said leaving the accord would save money and jobs, Mr Bergh and Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff foresee a different outcome. "Leaving the Paris Climate Accord puts us - and our US peers - at a huge disadvantage," Mr Bergh said in an emailed statement.

Nonetheless, he added, "we will continue to pursue technologies that can reduce the apparel industry's environmental impact". Loading Mr Benioff, meanwhile, pledged to double the company's efforts to combat climate change, saying he was "deeply disappointed". Bloomberg with The Washington Post