Trump defined what his “America First” agenda means with a strong rebuke of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change Thursday, which the president said would have negatively impacted American workers.
Speaking at the White House Rose Garden, the president divulged various reasons he believed the Paris accord to be a bad deal for American workers and taxpayers, but left the door open for a more fair re-negotiation.
“I am fighting everyday for the people of this country: therefore, in order to fulfill my duty to protect America and its citizens the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord,” the president stated, adding, “But begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris Accord or an entirely new transaction.”
“We’re getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair. If we can, that’s great. If we can’t, that’s fine.”
“Not only does this deal subject our citizens to harsh economic restrictions, it fails to live up to our environmental ideals,” Trump said. “The bottom line is that the Paris Accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States.”
Trump criticized the deal for shipping American jobs overseas, and claimed it was designed to financially weaken the country.
“In short, the agreement doesn’t eliminate coal jobs. It just transfers those jobs out of America and the United States, and ships them to foreign countries. This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.”
In a forceful reminder of his pledge to put America First, the president stated, “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
After the speech, the White House additionally released a supplemental video explaining why the Paris Agreement is a bad deal.
Trump upset European Union leaders during the G7 summit last week when he refused to pledge his commitment to…