President Trump on Thursday left open the possibility of reaching a new deal on the Paris climate change accord in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron but also said he would be content if no breakthrough occurs.
“Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Macron in Paris ahead of formal talks on a wide range of issues. “But we’ll talk about that in the coming period of time. If it happens, that will be wonderful. If it doesn’t, that’s OK, too.”
Trump decided June 1 to exit from the climate agreement, which he called a “bad deal” for the country that benefited countries like China and India more. He said he would work to renegotiate a better deal under the United Nations, but so far no major movement has been announced on that front.
Macron said Thursday that he respected Trump’s decision, even though he has been a critic of Trump’s decision.
“I very much respect the decision taken by President Trump,” Macron said. “He will work on implementing his campaign promises, and as far as I’m concerned I remained attached to the Paris accord and will make sure that step by step, we can do everything that’s in the accord.”
Trump said Thursday that his goal is to make the U.S. “a leader on environmental protection while we advance energy security and economic growth.”
A recent communique issued by the Group of 20 in Hamburg, Germany, last weekend recognized Trump’s goal of helping countries advance cleaner fossil fuel use while excluding the U.S. from the G20’s renewed pledge to support the Paris climate deal.
