--- title: How President Trump Decided to Exit the Paris Agreement description: Citing dubious statistics and the working class, President Trump rejected the pleas of world leaders and withdrew from the climate accord. canonical: https://time.com/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-02T17:09:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:14:00.443Z article:section: Politics og:title: How President Trump Decided to Exit the Paris Agreement og:description: Citing dubious statistics and the working class, President Trump rejected the pleas of world leaders and withdrew from the climate accord. og:url: https://time.com/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How President Trump Decided to Exit the Paris Agreement twitter:description: Citing dubious statistics and the working class, President Trump rejected the pleas of world leaders and withdrew from the climate accord. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How President Trump Decided to Exit the Paris Agreement > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jun 2, 2017 5:09 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jun 2, 2017 5:09 PM UTC In the end, there really wasn’t much of a debate. President Trump had his mind set on pulling out of the Paris climate agreement since the campaign trail and no push by family, CEO or pope was going to sway his thinking, aides said after Trump made his thinking official Thursday. Citing some dubious statistics and and a commitment to the working class, Trump rejected the pleas of global leaders and climate advocates, saying he was elected to act in what he perceives to be the best interest of the American people, not the world. Whether his decision was the correct one will be clear enough in time, and the four-year withdrawal process ensures that the issue will be a central component of the next presidential election. The White House maintains that Trump is serious about being open to renegotiating the agreement to make it fairer to the U.S., but officials can’t point to any specific asks of the president. European leaders are making clear that there will be no renegotiation of the landmark agreement, and China is seeing an opportunity to step up to a global leadership role. Additionally, White House officials have been ducking on the president’s personal beliefs on climate science for days. Macron trolls Trump. Why Trump mistakenly called a shooting a terrorist attack. And Trump’s love of drama. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Despite Paris Accord Exit, Companies Expect Little Change ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/despite-paris-accord-exit-companies-expect-little-change-1496345989?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam)Shareholder demands and state rules have already pushed firms to address climate change \[Wall Street Journal\] [How the Trump Administration’s Secret Efforts to Ease Russia Sanctions Fell Short ](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administrations-secret-efforts-ease-russia-sanctions-fell-short-231301145.html)Civil servants and Congress blocked it \[Yahoo\] [White House Orders Agencies to Ignore Democrats’ Oversight Requests ](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/02/federal-agencies-oversight-requests-democrats-white-house-239034)Trump’s aides are trying to shut down the release of information that could be used to attack the president \[Politico\] [Trump Announces Withdrawal From Paris Agreement ](http://time.com/4801134/paris-agreement-withdrawal-donald-trump-rose-garden/)TIME’s Justin Worland on the announcement [Trump Hands the Chinese a Gift: The Chance for Global Leadership ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/us/politics/climate-accord-trump-china-global-leadership.html?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&%5Fr=0)An opportunity they’ve long desired \[New York Times\] [Trump Tilts ‘America First’ Toward ‘America Alone’ ](https://apnews.com/6d69cbd89335498aaaff03dd0ae60a31/Analysis:-Trump-tilts-'America-First'-toward-'America-Alone'?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam)What the Paris decision means \[Associated Press\] [Trump Adviser Cohn Open to Concessions on U.S. Debt Ceiling ](https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-02/mnuchin-and-mulvaney-at-odds-as-trump-confronts-debt-default)Breaking with Mnuchin \[Bloomberg\] **Sound Off** “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris” — The key sentence of President Donald Trump’s speech announcing the Paris withdrawal “Make Our Planet Great Again” — French President Emmanuel Macron speaking after President Trump announced the U.S. would begin withdrawing from the Paris climate accord **Bits and Bites** [White House adviser: Trump to decide whether to block Comey testimony](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN18T1WZ) \[Reuters\] [Kellyanne Conway Declines to Say If President Trump Thinks Climate Change Is a Hoax](http://time.com/4802844/kellyanne-conway-trump-climate-change/) \[TIME\] [Trump admin appeals travel ban case to Supreme Court](http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/01/politics/trump-travel-ban-supreme-court/index.html) \[CNN\] [Putin to Megyn Kelly: ‘Your underage daughter’ could hack an election](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/vladimir-putin-faces-questions-megyn-kelly-st-petersburg-n767481) \[NBC\] [Fact Check: Holes in Trump’s reasoning on climate pullout](https://www.apnews.com/9e9509f4ee964d2aa3475f4b409645de/AP-FACT-CHECK:-Holes-in-Trump%27s-reasoning-on-climate-pullou) \[Associated Press\] [President Trump Called the Philippines Violence a Terror Attack. Local Police Say Otherwise](http://time.com/4802477/president-donald-trump-philippines-terror-attack-resort-world-casino/) \[TIME\] [France, Germany and Italy to President Trump: Paris Climate Agreement Can’t Be Renegotiated](http://time.com/4802303/president-donald-trump-france-germany-italy-paris-climate-accord-agreement/) \[Associated Press\] [White House eyes Bannon ally for top broadcasting post](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/01/michael-pack-candidate-broadcasting-board-of-governors-239022) \[Politico\] [Barack Obama Responds to President Trump’s Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal](http://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/) \[TIME\] [MIT Researchers Say Trump Misunderstood the Research He Used to Justify His Paris Agreement Exit](http://time.com/4802829/mit-researchers-trump-climate-change-paris/) \[TIME\] [French President Emmanuel Macron Trolls Donald Trump: ‘Make Our Planet Great Again’](http://time.com/4802549/emmanuel-macron-trolls-donald-trump-paris-climate-agreement/) \[TIME\] [For President Trump, decisions accompanied by drama](https://www.apnews.com/dd14d9387c6c472e83880c6e637fbeb9/For-President-Trump,-decisions-accompanied-by-drama) \[Associated Press\] [James O’Keefe’s Targets Sue Undercover Filmmaker for $1 Million](http://time.com/4801721/james-okeefe-lawsuit-democracy-partners/) \[TIME\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/"},"headline":"How President Trump Decided to Exit the Paris Agreement","datePublished":"2017-06-02T17:09:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:14:00.443Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: June2","url":"https://time.com/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—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/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/","name":"How President Trump Decided to Exit the Paris Agreement"}}]}] ```