National security adviser H.R. McMaster denied a Saturday report that President Trump wouldn’t be pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
“That’s a false report,” McMaster told “Fox News Sunday.” “The president decided to pull out of the Paris accord because it was a bad deal for the American people, and because it’s a bad deal for the environment. It gave the worst polluters the ability to continue polluting and emitting carbon without significantly reducing those levels.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday a European Union official said the Trump administration wouldn’t leave the Paris Agreement, and is instead looking to review the terms of its involvement in the international deal.
But McMaster pushed back on that report, and said while Trump is committed to the “cleanest water on earth, the cleanest air on earth,” as well as an energy policy that cuts carbon emissions and produces clean fossil fuels, the president felt the Paris climate agreement wouldn’t effectively accomplish those goals.
“He’s out of the Paris climate agreement, but he’s said the door is open,” McMaster said. “At some point in the future, if there can be a deal that addresses these fundamental flaws, he’s open to it.”
White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters also pushed back on the Wall Street Journal’s report Saturday.
“There has been no change in the United States’ position on the Paris agreement,” she said. “As the president has made abundantly clear, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable to our country.”
