--- title: Al Gore: Donald Trump Tearing Down U.S. Standing description: Former Vice President Al Gore­ condemned President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement in an interview Monday. canonical: https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/ author: Jack Brewster article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-17T15:26:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:11.667Z article:section: Politics og:title: Gore Argues Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down U.S. Standing og:description: Echoing old Republican criticism of President Obama. og:url: https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3e92b1619bd50ff/6988d5f286f68efb616e5975/gettyimages-627821290.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Former Vice President Al Gore arrives at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York City. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gore Argues Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down U.S. Standing twitter:description: Echoing old Republican criticism of President Obama. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3e92b1619bd50ff/6988d5f286f68efb616e5975/gettyimages-627821290.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Al Gore Argues President Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down America's Standing > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times 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. ## Video: Global Reactions to the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord [Watch (HLS stream): Global Reactions to the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0JDaMlrv.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2017-06-02. Leaders around the world react to Trump's announcement of the American withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord._ by [Jack Brewster](https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Jul 17, 2017 3:26 PM UTC  Former Vice President Al Gore arrives at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York City. Former Vice President Al Gore arrives at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York City. Kevin Hagen—Getty Images by [Jack Brewster](https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Jul 17, 2017 3:26 PM UTC Former Vice President Al Gore­ condemned President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement in an interview Monday. “We’ve never had a president who’s deliberately made decisions the effect of which is tearing down America’s standing in the world,” [Gore said on the “Today” show](http://www.today.com/video/al-gore-i-d-hoped-trump-would-come-to-his-senses-on-paris-climate-pact-1001588803584). The one-time Democratic presidential nominee also attacked Trump for “undermining our alliances” and damaging America’s reputation in “many ways.” Gore–who has spent most of his post-political career [as a climate change activist](http://time.com/4565716/al-gore-donald-trump-election/)–has occasionally weighed in on the president’s decisions. In December, during the transition, [Gore met with Trump to discuss climate change](http://time.com/4578832/meet-the-people-hanging-out-in-donald-trumps-lobby/?iid=sr-link1). However, since the president decided to leave the Paris agreement, [the two have not been in contact](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/17/al-gore-trump-presidency-reaction-240623). “I’d hoped that he would come to his senses about the Paris agreement,” he said. “But I was wrong.” Gore’s criticism echoes the disparaging remarks directed at Obama during his tenure as president by Republicans. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich [once said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALlT6K4CfPs) that Obama is “in many ways the first anti-American president.” Gore added that the news of Donald Trump, Jr.’s meeting with Russian operatives was “some of the most troubling we’ve seen in a while.” “The months ahead will be a test for the American people,” he said. ## Transcript I spoke to President Trump again last night. I made it clear that the UK would have wanted the United States to stay within the Paris Agreement and that we continue to support the Paris Agreement. My message to you, Mr President, is that, as a public servant, and especially as a president, your first and most important responsibility's to protect the people. We shouldn't have to wait until Mar- a- lago goes under water Before this President starts understanding climate change. Unlike almost every other Western world leader, including Theresa May. He sticks to what he promised he would do, It's called democracy. How is he going to explain to his grandchildren what he did to the air they breathing, assuming they breathe air ?. [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] The decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote international security. His announcement today, From our point of view it's disappointing, but not at all surprising. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/"},"headline":"Al Gore Argues President Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down America's Standing","datePublished":"2017-07-17T15:26:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:11.667Z","description":"Echoing old Republican criticism of President Obama","url":"https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/","keywords":["Donald Trump","climate change","White House","Al Gore","paris agreement"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3e92b1619bd50ff/6988d5f286f68efb616e5975/gettyimages-627821290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Brewster","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3e92b1619bd50ff/6988d5f286f68efb616e5975/gettyimages-627821290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former Vice President Al Gore arrives at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York City.","caption":"Former Vice President Al Gore arrives at Trump Tower on December 5, 2016 in New York City.","creditText":"Kevin Hagen—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":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/","name":"Al Gore Argues President Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down America's Standing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Global Reactions to the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord","description":"Leaders around the world react to Trump's announcement of the American withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0JDaMlrv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-06-02T19:22:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0JDaMlrv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4860888/al-gore-donald-trump-america-standing/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```