---
title: "Elon Musk Quits President Trump’s Advisory Councils Due to Paris Accord Exit"
description: "\"Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,\" the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted."
date: "2017-06-02"
modified: "2017-06-02"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/11077/elon-musk-quits-president-trumps-advisory-councils-due-to-paris-accord-exit"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "climate change"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "president trump"
  - "SpaceX"
---

# Elon Musk Quits President Trump’s Advisory Councils Due to Paris Accord Exit

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/06/gettyimages-632549212.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made good on his promise yesterday and announced he is quitting two of President Donald Trump's business advisory councils in the wake of the administration's [decision to withdraw the United States](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/11066/president-trump-dumps-paris-climate-agreement>) from the historic Paris climate agreement that binds nations together in a pledge to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

Musk previously tweeted on Wednesday that he'd "done all \[he\] can" to try and convince President Trump to remain in the accord, which has been approved by 194 other countries; only Syria, Nicaragua, and now, the United States—the world's second-largest polluter—have declined to participate. Within an hour of Trump announcing his decision, Musk tweeted that he was done trying to work with the President:

https://twitter.com/_/status/870369915894546432

Musk was one of 18 CEOs and business leaders on Trump's main business advisory council; he also participated in the administration's American manufacturing initiative. This is not an empty move on his part—SpaceX depends largely on government contracts to fund its operations, including a $1.6 billion deal with NASA to handle supply missions to the International Space Station.

When Uber CEO Travis Kalanick [resigned from the very same council](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/7339/uber-ceo-quits-trumps-advisory-council-to-protest-extreme-vetting-executive-order>) amid outcry over Trump's travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries in February, Musk expressed his strong disagreement with the administration's policy—but [decided to remain](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/7353/elon-musk-justifies-presence-in-donald-trumps-presidential-advisory-board>) despite a public advertising campaign pressuring him to leave.

But with Tesla's green mission running headlong into a political brick wall, it appears that Musk saw no choice but to find another path. And he won't be alone—[dozens of other major CEOs](<https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/national/ct-trump-paris-climate-business-reaction-20170601-story.html>) have criticized Trump's decision and vowed to keep working to fight climate change on their own, including Disney CEO Bob Iger, who [also announced his plans to resign](<https://twitter.com/RobertIger/status/870413002893254656>) from the council.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)