The Vice President: Good afternoon.
Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Ross, EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt, members of
Congress, distinguished guests, on behalf of the
First Family, welcome to the White House.
(Applause.)
It's the greatest privilege of my life to
serve as Vice President to a President
who is fighting every day to make America great again.
Since the first day of this administration,
President Donald Trump has been working tirelessly to
keep the promises that he made to the American people.
President Trump has been reforming healthcare,
enforcing our laws, ending illegal immigration,
rebuilding our military.
And this President has been rolling back
excessive regulations and unfair trade practices
that were stifling American jobs.
Thanks to President Trump's leadership,
American businesses are growing again; investing
in America again; and they're creating jobs in
this country instead of shipping jobs overseas.
Thanks to President Donald Trump, America is back.
(Applause.)
And just last week we all witnessed the
bold leadership of an American President on the
world stage, putting America first.
From the Middle East, to Europe, as leader of the
free world, President Trump reaffirmed historic
alliances, forged new relationships, and called
on the wider world to confront the threat of
terrorism in new and renewed ways.
And by the action, the President will announce
today, the American people and the wider world will
see once again our President is choosing to
put American jobs and American consumers first.
Our President is choosing to put American energy and
American industry first.
And by his action today, President Donald Trump is
choosing to put the forgotten men and women of
America first.
So with gratitude for his leadership --
(applause)
-- and admiration for his unwavering commitment to
the American people, it is now my high honor and
distinct privilege to introduce to all of you,
the President of the United States of America,
President Donald Trump.
(Applause.)
The President: Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
I would like to begin by addressing the terrorist
attack in Manila.
We're closely monitoring the situation, and I will
continue to give updates if anything happens during
this period of time.
But it is really very sad as to what's going on
throughout the world with terror.
Our thoughts and our prayers are with all of
those affected.
Before we discuss the Paris Accord, I'd like to
begin with an update on our tremendous --
absolutely tremendous -- economic progress since
Election Day on November 8th.
The economy is starting to come back, and very,
very rapidly.
We've added $3.3 trillion in stock market value to
our economy, and more than a million private sector jobs.
I have just returned from a trip overseas where we
concluded nearly $350 billion of military and
economic development for the United States,
creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.
It was a very, very successful trip, believe me.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
In my meetings at the G7, we have taken historic
steps to demand fair and reciprocal trade that
gives Americans a level playing field against
other nations.
We're also working very hard for peace in the
Middle East, and perhaps even peace between the
Israelis and the Palestinians.
Our attacks on terrorism are greatly stepped up --
and you see that, you see it all over -- from the
previous administration, including getting many
other countries to make major contributions to the
fight against terror.
Big, big contributions are being made by countries
that weren't doing so much in the form
of contribution.
One by one, we are keeping the promises I made to the
American people during my campaign for President --
whether it's cutting job-killing regulations;
appointing and confirming a tremendous Supreme Court
justice; putting in place tough new ethics rules;
achieving a record reduction in illegal
immigration on our southern border; or
bringing jobs, plants, and factories back into the
United States at numbers which no one until this
point thought even possible.
And believe me, we've just begun.
The fruits of our labor will be seen very
shortly even more so.
On these issues and so many more, we're following
through on our commitments.
And I don't want anything to get in our way.
I am fighting every day for the great people
of this country.
Therefore, in order to fulfill my solemn duty to
protect America and its citizens, the United
States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord --
(applause)
-- thank you, thank you --
but begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris
Accord or a really entirely new transaction
on terms that are fair to the United States, its
businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers.
So we're getting out.
But we will start to negotiate, and we will see
if we can make a deal that's fair.
And if we can, that's great.
And if we can't, that's fine.
(Applause.)
As President, I can put no other consideration before
the wellbeing of American citizens.
The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest
example of Washington entering into an agreement
that disadvantages the United States to the
exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving
American workers -- who I love -- and taxpayers to
absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages,
shuttered factories, and vastly diminished
economic production.
Thus, as of today, the United States will cease
all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord
and the draconian financial and economic
burdens the agreement imposes on our country.
This includes ending the implementation of the
nationally determined contribution and, very
importantly, the Green Climate Fund which is
costing the United States a vast fortune.
Compliance with the terms of the Paris Accord and
the onerous energy restrictions it has placed
on the United States could cost America as much as
2.7 million lost jobs by 2025 according to the
National Economic Research Associates.
This includes 440,000 fewer manufacturing jobs
-- not what we need -- believe me, this is not
what we need -- including automobile jobs, and the
further decimation of vital American industries
on which countless communities rely.
They rely for so much, and we would be giving
them so little.
According to this same study, by 2040, compliance
with the commitments put into place by the previous
administration would cut production for the
following sectors: paper down 12 percent; cement
down 23 percent; iron and steel down 38 percent;
coal -- and I happen to love the coal miners --
down 86 percent; natural gas down 31 percent.
The cost to the economy at this time would be close
to $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million industrial
jobs, while households would have $7,000 less
income and, in many cases, much worse than that.
Not only does this deal subject our citizens to
harsh economic restrictions, it fails to
live up to our environmental ideals.
As someone who cares deeply about the
environment, which I do, I cannot in good conscience
support a deal that punishes the United States
-- which is what it does -- the world's leader in
environmental protection, while imposing no
meaningful obligations on the world's
leading polluters.
For example, under the agreement, China will be
able to increase these emissions by a staggering
number of years -- 13.
They can do whatever they want for 13 years.
Not us.
India makes its participation contingent
on receiving billions and billions and billions of
dollars in foreign aid from developed countries.
There are many other examples.
But the bottom line is that the Paris Accord is
very unfair, at the highest level,
to the United States.
Further, while the current agreement effectively
blocks the development of clean coal in America --
which it does, and the mines are starting to open up.
We're having a big opening in two weeks.
Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, so many places.
A big opening of a brand-new mine.
It's unheard of.
For many, many years, that hasn't happened.
They asked me if I'd go.
I'm going to try.
China will be allowed to build hundreds of
additional coal plants.
So we can't build the plants, but they can,
according to this agreement.
India will be allowed to double its coal
production by 2020.
Think of it: India can double their
coal production.
We're supposed to get rid of ours.
Even Europe is allowed to continue construction
of coal plants.
In short, the agreement doesn't eliminate coal
jobs, it just transfers those jobs out of America
and the United States, and ships them to
foreign countries.
This agreement is less about the climate and more
about other countries gaining a financial
advantage over the United States.
The rest of the world applauded when we signed
the Paris Agreement -- they went wild; they were
so happy -- for the simple reason that it put our
country, the United States of America, which we all
love, at a very, very big economic disadvantage.
A cynic would say the obvious reason for
economic competitors and their wish to see us
remain in the agreement is so that we continue to
suffer this self-inflicted major economic wound.
We would find it very hard to compete with other
countries from other parts of the world.
We have among the most abundant energy reserves
on the planet, sufficient to lift millions of
America's poorest workers out of poverty.
Yet, under this agreement, we are effectively putting
these reserves under lock and key, taking away the
great wealth of our nation -- it's great wealth, it's
phenomenal wealth; not so long ago, we had no idea
we had such wealth -- and leaving millions and
millions of families trapped in poverty
and joblessness.
The agreement is a massive redistribution of United
States wealth to other countries.
At 1 percent growth, renewable sources of
energy can meet some of our domestic demand, but
at 3 or 4 percent growth, which I expect, we need
all forms of available American energy, or our country --
(applause)
-- will be at grave risk of
brownouts and blackouts, our businesses will come
to a halt in many cases, and the American family
will suffer the consequences in the form
of lost jobs and a very diminished quality of life.
Even if the Paris Agreement were implemented
in full, with total compliance from all
nations, it is estimated it would only produce a
two-tenths of one degree -- think of that; this
much -- Celsius reduction in global temperature
by the year 2100.
Tiny, tiny amount.
In fact, 14 days of carbon emissions from China alone
would wipe out the gains from America -- and this
is an incredible statistic -- would totally wipe out
the gains from America's expected reductions in the
year 2030, after we have had to spend billions and
billions of dollars, lost jobs, closed factories,
and suffered much higher energy costs for our
businesses and for our homes.
As the Wall Street Journal wrote this morning: "The
reality is that withdrawing is in
America's economic interest and won't matter
much to the climate."
The United States, under the Trump administration,
will continue to be the cleanest and most
environmentally friendly country on Earth.
We'll be the cleanest.
We're going to have the cleanest air.
We're going to have the cleanest water.
We will be environmentally friendly, but we're not
going to put our businesses out of work and
we're not going to lose our jobs.
We're going to grow; we're going to grow rapidly.
(Applause.)
And I think you just read -- it just
came out minutes ago, the small business report --
small businesses as of just now are booming,
hiring people.
One of the best reports they've seen in many years.
I'm willing to immediately work with Democratic
leaders to either negotiate our way back
into Paris, under the terms that are fair to the
United States and its workers, or to negotiate a
new deal that protects our country and its taxpayers.
(Applause.)
So if the obstructionists want to
get together with me, let's make them
non-obstructionists.
We will all sit down, and we will get back into the deal.
And we'll make it good, and we won't be closing up
our factories, and we won't be losing our jobs.
And we'll sit down with the Democrats and all of
the people that represent either the Paris Accord or
something that we can do that's much better than
the Paris Accord.
And I think the people of our country will be
thrilled, and I think then the people of the world
will be thrilled.
But until we do that, we're out of the agreement.
I will work to ensure that America remains the
world's leader on environmental issues, but
under a framework that is fair and where the burdens
and responsibilities are equally shared among the
many nations all around the world.
No responsible leader can put the workers -- and the
people -- of their country at this debilitating and
tremendous disadvantage.
The fact that the Paris deal hamstrings the United
States, while empowering some of the world's top
polluting countries, should dispel any doubt as
to the real reason why foreign lobbyists wish to
keep our magnificent country tied up and bound
down by this agreement: It's to give their country
an economic edge over the United States.
That's not going to happen while I'm President.
I'm sorry.
(Applause.)
My job as President is to do
everything within my power to give America a level
playing field and to create the economic,
regulatory and tax structures that make
America the most prosperous and productive
country on Earth, and with the highest standard of
living and the highest standard of
environmental protection.
Our tax bill is moving along in Congress, and I
believe it's doing very well.
I think a lot of people will be very
pleasantly surprised.
The Republicans are working very, very hard.
We'd love to have support from the Democrats, but we
may have to go it alone.
But it's going very well.
The Paris Agreement handicaps the United
States economy in order to win praise from the very
foreign capitals and global activists that have
long sought to gain wealth at our country's expense.
They don't put America first.
I do, and I always will.
(Applause.)
The same nations asking us to stay in the
agreement are the countries that have
collectively cost America trillions of dollars
through tough trade practices and, in many
cases, lax contributions to our critical
military alliance.
You see what's happening.
It's pretty obvious to those that want to
keep an open mind.
At what point does America get demeaned?
At what point do they start laughing
at us as a country?
We want fair treatment for its citizens, and we want
fair treatment for our taxpayers.
We don't want other leaders and other
countries laughing at us anymore.
And they won't be.
They won't be.
I was elected to represent the citizens of
Pittsburgh, not Paris.
(Applause.)
I promised I would exit or renegotiate
any deal which fails to serve America's interests.
Many trade deals will soon be under renegotiation.
Very rarely do we have a deal that works for this
country, but they'll soon be under renegotiation.
The process has begun from day one.
But now we're down to business.
Beyond the severe energy restrictions inflicted by
the Paris Accord, it includes yet another
scheme to redistribute wealth out of the United
States through the so-called Green Climate
Fund -- nice name -- which calls for developed
countries to send $100 billion to developing
countries all on top of America's existing and
massive foreign aid payments.
So we're going to be paying billions and
billions and billions of dollars, and we're already
way ahead of anybody else.
Many of the other countries haven't spent
anything, and many of them will never pay one dime.
The Green Fund would likely obligate the United
States to commit potentially tens of
billions of dollars of which the United States
has already handed over $1 billion -- nobody else is
even close; most of them haven't even paid anything
-- including funds raided out of America's budget
for the war against terrorism.
That's where they came.
Believe me, they didn't come from me.
They came just before I came into office.
Not good.
And not good the way they took the money.
In 2015, the United Nation's departing top
climate officials reportedly described the
$100 billion per year as "peanuts," and stated that
"the $100 billion is the tail that wags the dog."
In 2015, the Green Climate Fund's executive director
reportedly stated that estimated funding needed
would increase to $450 billion per year after 2020.
And nobody even knows where the money is going to.
Nobody has been able to say, where is it going to?
Of course, the world's top polluters have no
affirmative obligations under the Green Fund,
which we terminated.
America is $20 trillion in debt.
Cash-strapped cities cannot hire enough police
officers or fix vital infrastructure.
Millions of our citizens are out of work.
And yet, under the Paris Accord, billions of
dollars that ought to be invested right here in
America will be sent to the very countries that
have taken our factories and our jobs away from us.
So think of that.
There are serious legal and constitutional
issues as well.
Foreign leaders in Europe, Asia, and across the world
should not have more to say with respect to the U.S.
economy than our own citizens and their elected
representatives.
Thus, our withdrawal from the agreement represents a
reassertion of America's sovereignty.
(Applause.) Our Constitution is unique
among all the nations of the world, and it is my
highest obligation and greatest honor to protect it.
And I will.
Staying in the agreement could also pose serious
obstacles for the United States as we begin the
process of unlocking the restrictions on America's
abundant energy reserves, which we have
started very strongly.
It would once have been unthinkable that an
international agreement could prevent the United
States from conducting its own domestic economic
affairs, but this is the new reality we face if we
do not leave the agreement or if we do not negotiate
a far better deal.
The risks grow as historically these
agreements only tend to become more and more
ambitious over time.
In other words, the Paris framework is a starting
point -- as bad as it is -- not an end point.
And exiting the agreement protects the United States
from future intrusions on the United States'
sovereignty and massive future legal liability.
Believe me, we have massive legal liability
if we stay in.
As President, I have one obligation, and that
obligation is to the American people.
The Paris Accord would undermine our economy,
hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty,
impose unacceptable legal risks, and put us at a
permanent disadvantage to the other countries
of the world.
It is time to exit the Paris Accord --
(applause)
-- and time to pursue a new deal that protects the
environment, our companies, our citizens,
and our country.
It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit,
Michigan, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- along with
many, many other locations within our great country
-- before Paris, France.
It is time to make America great again.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Very important.
I'd like to ask Scott Pruitt, who most of you
know and respect, as I do, just to say a few words.
Scott, please.
(Applause.)
Administrator Pruitt: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Your decision today to exit the Paris Accord
reflects your unflinching commitment to put America first.
And by exiting, you're fulfilling yet one more
campaign promise to the American people.
Please know that I am thankful for your
fortitude, your courage, and your steadfastness as
you serve and lead our country.
America finally has a leader who answers only to
the people -- not to the special interests who have
had their way for way too long.
In everything you do, Mr. President, you're
fighting for the forgotten men and women
across this country.
You're a champion for the hardworking citizens all
across this land who just want a government that
listens to them and represents their interest.
You have promised to put America First in all that
you do, and you've done that in any number of ways
-- from trade, to national security, to protecting
our border, to rightsizing Washington, D.C. And
today you've put America first with regard to
international agreements and the environment.
This is an historic restoration of American
economic independence -- one that will benefit the
working class, the working poor, and working people
of all stripes.
With this action, you have declared that the people
are rulers of this country once again.
And it should be noted that we as a nation do it
better than anyone in the world in striking the
balance between growing our economy, growing jobs
while also being a good steward of
our environment.
We owe no apologies to other nations for our
environmental stewardship.
After all, before the Paris Accord was ever
signed, America had reduced its CO2 footprint
to levels from the early 1990s.
In fact, between the years 2000 and 2014, the United
States reduced its carbon emissions by 18-plus percent.
And this was accomplished not through government
mandate, but accomplished through innovation and
technology of the American private sector.
For that reason, Mr. President, you have
corrected a view that was paramount in Paris that
somehow the United States should penalize its own
economy, be apologetic, lead with our chin, while
the rest of world does little.
Other nations talk a good game; we lead with action
-- not words.
(Applause.)
Our efforts, Mr. President, as you
know, should be on exporting our technology,
our innovation to nations who seek to reduce their
CO2 footprint to learn from us.
That should be our focus versus agreeing to
unachievable targets that harm our economy and the
American people.
Mr. President, it takes courage, it takes
commitment to say no to the plaudits of men while
doing what's right by the American people.
You have that courage, and the American people can
take comfort because you have their backs.
Thank you, Mr. President.