Travis Kalanick says participation in president’s strategic and policy forum has been ‘misinterpreted’…following intense criticism and an online boycott of the company over its ties to the new administration..."I spoke briefly with the president about the immigration executive order and its issues for our community,” Kalanick wrote in an email to Uber staff... “I also let him know that I would not be able to participate on his economic council. Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda…”

Trump’s executive order has faced widespread backlash in Silicon Valley, where many top executives and company founders are immigrants and where companies rely heavily on highly skilled workers from abroad. Executives from [many] companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Netflix spoke out against the travel ban…announced donations to civil liberties or refugee rights organizations, and…announced intentions to support legal challenges to the order.