French president excoriates Trump in English over US withdrawal from climate deal

pulse

June 2, 2017 1:30 AM

"Make our planet great again."

French President Emmanuel Macron.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a stinging rebuke to US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change on Thursday.

"I do respect his decision, but I do think it is an actual mistake, both for the United States and for the planet," Macron said in an unprecedented English-language speech at the Élysée Palace.

Trump's decision has drawn international condemnation, and it has some experts predicting it could damage the US's international standing on environmental issues.

Macron seemed to hint at that in his speech, at one point directly addressing Americans and encouraging them to work with like-minded people abroad.

"To all the scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision by the president of the United States, I want to say they will find in France a second homeland," Macron said. "I call on them — come and work here with us, to work together on concrete solutions for our climate."

Macron also insisted that the Paris Agreement "remains irreversible." In Trump's announcement at the White House on Thursday, the president said the US may try to renegotiate the terms of the agreement at a later time.

If Macron's criticism of Trump weren't clear enough, he left no room for doubt with his final line, in which he appropriated Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.

"Wherever we live, whoever we are," Macron said, "we all share the same responsibility to make our planet great again."

According to the British news outlet The Telegraph, Macron's speech marked the first time a French leader had addressed his nation in English from the president's official residence.

View Macrons speech below:

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