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9 p.m.

President Donald Trump has abruptly disbanded two of his White House business councils in the latest fallout from his combative comments on racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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The decision comes as the White House tries to manage the repercussions from Trump’s defiant remarks a day earlier, in which he blamed the violence at a white supremacist rally on “both sides.”

Presidential advisers are hunkering down, offering no public defence while privately expressing frustration with his comments. Trump himself has stayed out of sight, though he travelled from New York to his golf club in New Jersey for the night.

Some Republicans and scores of Democrats have denounced Trump’s statements and called for an apology. Most of those Republicans, including congressional leaders, are not specifically criticizing the president.

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1:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he’s ending a pair of White House advisory councils that were staffed by corporate chief executives.