President Trump greeting the onetime General Electric chief executive Jack Welch at the White House in February. : As corporate chieftains on a White House advisory panel debated on Wednesday on whether to disband, a few spoke up in favor of sticking with President Trump. Jack Welch, the retired leader of General Electric, said the business leaders should not abandon the president, according to a person briefed on the call, who was not authorized to speak about it. W. James McNerney Jr., the former head of Boeing, reminded the corporate executives that they wanted a business-friendly administration.