President Donald Trump has taken credit for disbanding his Strategic and Policy Forum, but a new report claims the business council members made the decision for themselves, before the President ever announced his intentions.

Members of council decided on Wednesday morning that they would disband the group, a person familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. Hours later, Mr Trump tweeted that he had decided to disband the group himself.

"Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both,” he wrote. “Thank you all!"

Members of both the Manufacturing Council and the Strategy and Policy Forum – which were created to advise Mr Trump on his economic agenda – had felt growing pressure to resign following his tepid response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump attempted to defend his response by claiming that “not all” of the rally participants were white supremacists. Some of them, he said were just there “because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue of Robert E Lee”. Lee was a Confederate general during the American Civil War.

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

The President also used the press conference to heap blame on those who counter-protested the rally, claiming that they were “very, very violent”.

“You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” he said.

A person familiar with the Policy Forum told the Journal that "everything changed for everyone” after the press conference.

“It was clear from a value perspective we were not aligned," the person said.

Eight members of the Manufacturing Council and the Policy Forum stepped down between Monday and Tuesday. Kenneth Frazier, CEO of pharmaceutical company Merck, was the first to resign, saying that he felt “a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism”.

The CEOs of Intel and Under Armour quickly followed suit, setting off a chain reaction. Members of the Policy Forum began to call each other separately to discuss the situation, sources told the Journal.

Eventually, about a dozen executives organised a conference call for Wednesday morning, when they decided to disband the group. They later phoned the President to inform him of their decision.