President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 195-country Paris climate agreement — a deal to protect the planet that was signed by virtually all countries except for Syria and Nicaragua — was an act of supreme irresponsibility that will cost the United States dearly on many fronts.
Diplomatically, it will confirm that Trump has relinquished the US role as the leader of the free world and the architect of world trade and environmental agreements. Economically, it will further convince the biggest Western democracies to expand their own trade agreements, bypassing the United States.
