Blackstone co-founder Steve Schwarzman and other CEOs on the now-defunct White House policy forum were perplexed by President Donald Trump's efforts to take responsibility for disbanding the group, sources told The New York Times.

Schwarzman, who chaired the group, thought he had an agreement with the White House to announce that the idea of ending the Strategic and Policy Forum was a joint decision, the Times reported.

The CEOs decided during a Wednesday morning conference call to dissolve the forum in the uproar that followed Trump's news conference in which he made comments that were deemed supportive of white supremacists.



Shortly thereafter, Schwarzman called Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and advisor, to let the White House know about their decision, the Times said.

Kushner asked Schwarzman if they would write in the press release that they were ending the group in agreement with the president. Schwarzman agreed, according to the Times.

But as reports were surfacing that the Strategic and Policy Forum was disbanding, Trump on Wednesday afternoon tweeted he was ending the forum as well as another White House advisory group, the manufacturing council.

TWEET

Schwarzman and the CEOs on the policy forum were shocked and disputed Trump's notion that he ended things when in fact they did, the newspaper said.

The Times said the White House declined to comment.

Read the entire New York Times article on the behind-the-scenes moves that led to the fracture Trump's relationship with corporate America.