Hacker News Reader

Just to correct, the Apple CEO, Tim Cook, has attended meetings with Trump, but never sat on any formally organized council.

Jeff Immelt and Travis Kalannick sat on the "American Manufacturing Council" and "Strategic and Policy Forum" respectively, which had memberships and were regularly consulted.

That's true and Travis said that when he first got calls to quit but he listened to his customers and employees and quit. I'm no fan of Travis or uber but I feel like Travis deserves some points for making the right call months ago and I wish others followed his lead back then.

The fact is that the employees wanted Travis to quit. Whatever the truth is about Travis or anyone else supporting Trump, that's what happened. And this new guy didn't quit. Those variables therefore matter. The capable of what the CEO actually thinks doesn't matter.

You don't have to be on the President's showpiece panels to not be ignoring him.

Anyone who would be invited to be on one of those panels has no trouble hearing from and making themselves heard by government without being on a panel.