President Donald Trump declared America done with the Paris climate agreement on Thursday, putting the U.S. in the sparse company of just two other nations — Syria and Nicaragua — in rejecting the deal outright.
At the G7 summit last week, world leaders and America’s allies — even the Pope dropped a hint — reportedly urged Trump to remain in the agreement for, oh, the good of humanity. Now that the president has announced his decision to “put America first,” many of those same world leaders are condemning the decision. France, Germany, and Italy were quick to respond, and its leaders — President Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, respectively — issued a joint statement saying renegotiation of the climate deal was off the table for Trump and the U.S. Calling the accord “irreversible,” they stated: “We firmly believe that the Paris agreement cannot be renegotiated.” Above all, leaders reaffirmed their committed to the terms of the Paris agreement, with or without the United States — something the EU and China had planned to do no matter the outcome of Trump’s Rose Garden press conference.
Merkel’s spokesman said the Chancellor was “disappointed” in Trump’s decision.
According to reports, Macron spoke with Trump after his announcement, and told him directly that renegotiation was a nonstarter. Macron also issued a statement on social media, saying he “respected” the decision, even though it was a “mistake.” He added a lifeline to the majority of Americans who support the deal, saying, “I wish to tell the United States, France believes in you. The world believes in you.”
And Macron borrowed a familiar slogan:
Other European leaders also weighed in, and many had publicly encouraged Trump to recommit to the Paris Deal ahead of his announcement:
And here’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said in a statement that despite the United States’ “disheartening” decision, “Canada will continue to work with the U.S. at the state level, and with other U.S. stakeholders, to address climate change and promote clean growth.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May also reportedly phoned Trump after his ceremony. A spokesman said that she “expressed her disappointment with the decision and stressed that the UK remained committed to the Paris Agreement, as she set out recently at the G7.” May added that she believes Paris “provides the right global framework for protecting the prosperity and security of future generations.”
And finally, even the United Nations punched back:
