Uber boss Kalanick quits Donald Trump's economic advisory board

Travis Kalanick, the chief executive of ride-hailing app Uber, has stood down as a member of Donald Trump's economic advisory group after being inundated with criticism from its users.

Uber was the subject of a social media campaign to delete the application after Twitter users seized on what they believed to be Kalinick's support for Trump's temporary ban on immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

In a memo sent to employees of the California-based company, Kalanick defended his joining of the board, whose role is solely an advisory one.

"Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that," Kalanick wrote.

"The implicit assumption that Uber (or I) was somehow endorsing the Administration's agenda has created a perception-reality gap between who people think we are, and who we actually are," he added.

The advisory body is made up of several of the US' biggest companies and their top representatives, including Tesla founder Elon Musk, JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon and General Motors CEO Mary Barra.

Musk said on Thursday that his role was only an advisory one, and that he would attend a scheduled meeting on Friday to express his concerns about the immigration ban.

"Advisory councils simply provide advice and attending does not mean that I agree with actions by the Administration," Musk tweeted on Thursday.

"I and others will express our objections to the recent executive order on immigration and offer suggestions for changes to the policy."