‘I represent the people of Pittsburgh NOT Paris’: Trump pulls U.S. out of climate accord saying it is a foreign attempt to seize American jobs and American wealth – and is immediately attacked by Obama
Donald Trump is pulling the United States out of the Paris climate agreement that Barack Obama entered
President says he is protecting American jobs and accuses treaty of being designed to redistribute U.S. wealth to other countries
‘I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh not Paris,’ he said – ‘It is time to make America great again.’
Obama reacted before Trump even finishing speaking, saying action means U.S. joins a small handful of nations that reject the future’
Trump told ‘foreign leaders in Europe, Asia and across the world’ they would not have a say over American jobs and American growth
Syria and Nicaragua are only other countries not in deal whose backers say is vital to stopping average temperatures growing by more than 2C this century
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were said to have lobbied to stay in – and were not at the Rose Garden to witness the decision being announced
By Francesca Chambers, White House Correspondent
DailyMail.com
1 June 2017
Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris accord on climate change on Thursday afternoon – deriding it as bad for American jobs and bad for the environment.
He dared opprobrium from foreign leaders, environmentalists, scientists and celebrities to say he was putting the jobs of American workers first.
‘We don’t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us any more. And they won’t be. They won’t be,’ Trump declared. ‘I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.’
Before he even sat down, his predecessor Barack Obama launched an all-out assault, saying Trump ‘joins a small handful of nations that reject the future’.
The leaders of France, Germany and Italy said the decision was ‘regrettable’ and that the deal was ‘non-negotiable’.
Elon Musk, the Tesla billionaire, said he was quitting advising the White House, tweeting: ‘Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.’
Trump complained in the White House’s Rose Garden that major polluters like China are allowed to increase their emissions under the agreement in a way that the US cannot. India is hinging its participation on billions of dollars of foreign aid.
‘The bottom line is that the Paris Accord is very unfair, at the highest level, to the United States,’ he said.
He argued later, ‘The agreement is a massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries.’
‘This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States,’ he contended.
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