--- description: Former Vice President Al Gore­ condemned President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement in an interview Monday. title: Gore Argues Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down U.S. Standing image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3e92b1619bd50ff/6988d5f286f68efb616e5975/gettyimages-627821290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Al Gore Argues President Trump Is 'Deliberately' Tearing Down America's Standing by [Jack Brewster](/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2017 3:26 PM CUT  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](/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2017 3:26 PM CUT 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 "undefined"). 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/ "undefined")–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 "undefined"). 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 "undefined"). “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 "undefined") 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. ```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":"2026-02-23T16:35:24.180Z","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"}}] ```