--- title: Paris Climate Deal: Barack Obama Reacts to Trump Withdrawal description: "This Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future," Obama said in a statement canonical: https://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-01T20:12:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:13:35.408Z article:section: Politics og:title: Barack Obama Responds to Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal og:description: "I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up." og:url: https://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd186c69a1aebd112/6988cfd497cdff51f46b0fa0/gettyimages-691259814.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3648 og:image:height: 2052 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump Makes Statement On Paris Climate Agreement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama Responds to Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal twitter:description: "I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd186c69a1aebd112/6988cfd497cdff51f46b0fa0/gettyimages-691259814.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Barack Obama Responds to President Trump's Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=bc9b1edb-24ec-491a-84ba-206a5a5c94b6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 1, 2017 8:12 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump announces his decision for the United States to pull out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015\. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump announces his decision for the United States to pull out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015\. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 1, 2017 8:12 PM UTC Former President Obama responded to President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will [withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, ](http://time.com/4801134/paris-agreement-withdrawal-donald-trump-rose-garden/)a signature achievement of Obama’s two terms in office. In a statement issued Thursday, Obama said he is confident states and cities will continue pursuing a low-carbon future “even in the absence of American leadership.” “The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack,” Obama said in a statement. “But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.” Nearly 200 countries signed onto the [Paris Climate Accord](http://time.com/4799404/paris-agreement-trump-withdrawal-climate/) in 2015, agreeing to adopt environmentally friendly practices in order to keep global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius. President Trump has said pulling out of the deal will kickstart “America first” environmental policies. In his statement, Obama suggested he believes the [private sector ](http://time.com/4799194/donald-trump-paris-climate-agreement/)will now take the lead. “The private sector already chose a low-carbon future,” Obama said. “And for the nations that committed themselves to that future, the Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale.” Read the full statement below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Barack Obama Responds to President Trump's Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal","datePublished":"2017-06-01T20:12:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:13:35.408Z","description":"\"I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up\"","url":"https://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/","keywords":["climate change","climate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd186c69a1aebd112/6988cfd497cdff51f46b0fa0/gettyimages-691259814.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd186c69a1aebd112/6988cfd497cdff51f46b0fa0/gettyimages-691259814.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Donald Trump Makes Statement On Paris Climate Agreement","caption":"President Donald Trump Makes Statement On Paris Climate Agreement","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/","name":"Barack Obama Responds to President Trump's Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal"}}]}] ```