Trump To Announce Decision On Paris Accord, Expected To Leave
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) -- President Donald Trump is ready to make good on another campaign promise, tweeting out that he'll be announcing his decision on the Paris Accord by 3 p.m. Thursday.
In the past, he's threatened to pull out of the global agreement aimed at reducing carbon emissions.
"We're going to cancel the Paris Climate agreement," Trump said in a campaign speech.
The president's EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, has questioned whether humans are to blame for global warming. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and 21 other GOP Senators sent the president a letter last week urging him to ditch the agreement.
Democrats are calling it a historic misstep.
"It would damage our standing on the world stage and allow China to take the moral high ground," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).
Nearly 200 countries are signed on to the Paris Accord to stem climate change.
"The effects of climate change are already being felt around the world," said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guiterres. "They are dangerous and they are accelerating."
President Trump also took to Twitter to blast the investigation into Russian hacking, referring to false or misleading testimony by former FBI Director James Comey, who is set to testify next week before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump also retweeted a Fox News report that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, talked about Syria when he met with the Russian ambassador at Trump Tower last December. The Fox report said Kushner was not a back channel between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Jared Kushner didn't suggest Russian communications channel in meeting, source says https://t.co/nF6bM1FEt1
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 30, 2017
But Kushner also met with Sergei Gorkov, the head of a major Russian bank under U.S. sanctions with strong ties to Vladimir Putin. Gorkov had no comment for reporters when asked about what their conversation was about.