TRUMP STALLS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
President won’t back deal to slash emissions
DONALD Trump refused to back a landmark deal to tackle climate change at the G7 summit yesterday.
He demanded more time to decide whether or not to honour US commitments to reduce carbon emissions under the 2015 Paris agreement.
It left America isolated from the rest of the seven wealthy nations - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
But the President did relent on his “America first” mission, said sources at the summit in Taormina, Sicily. “In the end we convinced them to include the fight against protectionism in the final communique,” one diplomat said. EU envoys also tried to put a positive spin on Mr Trump’s refusal to back the climate change deal, saying he had at least listened. “Trump engaged in a dialogue, asked questions, received arguments and stays in the game,” a senior French diplomat said. But Friends of the Earth boss Craig Bennett said the President’s stance risked turning the US into “a pariah state”.
The stand- off came as Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner came under new pressure. Officials said he attempted to set up secret communications with Moscow after the US election.
He had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with Russia’s ambassador during and after the presidential campaign, seven current and former US officials have now said.