US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump suggested he could change his position on the Paris climate accord, in remarks after talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
“Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord,” he said at a joint news conference with Macron, six weeks after announcing that the United States would abandon the 2015 pact, adding: “We’ll see what happens.”
Macron said he “respected” Trump’s decision but France remained committed to the accord.
Earlier today , the 39-year-old French leader said he had a “strong disagreement… about the climate” deal, with Trump adding: “I hope in the end to be able to persuade him.”
Trump, whose country is the world’s second biggest producer of greenhouse gases after China, drew widespread criticism when he announced on 1 June that he would quit the pact.
The 39-year-old French leader has major disagreements with Trump on trade and climate change after the US president announced his plan to withdraw from the Paris global climate change agreement last month.
But the young and ambitious Macron has taken the lead in trying to build bridges, something criticised by some far-left politicians in France and viewed sceptically by some analysts.
“I’ve a strong disagreement with President Trump, and I’ve explained myself before… it’s a disagreement about the climate,” Macron said earlier today during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“I hope in the end to be able to persuade him,” Macron added.
The body language between the two men was warm, with Trump even giving Macron a lift from the museum back to the presidency in his eight-tonne car, known as The Beast.
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