29 May, 2017
With the United States refusing to commit to the Paris Agreement, Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Saturday admitted that they could not make a joint statement on climate change.
President Donald Trump said Saturday he will hold off on a decision regarding the US participation in the 195 nation Paris climate change agreement.
As Donald Trump flew back to the United States, completing his first trip overseas as president, he left key allies waiting in exasperation on a decision over whether the United States will pull out of the Paris climate accord.
The decision whether the leave the Paris deal accord has been among the most fractious of the Trump administration.
"His views are evolving" on the Paris climate agreement, Cohn also said.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who chaired the meeting, said the other six "won't change our position on climate change one millimeter".
Trump's position appeared to be addressed by new language that said the member countries would be "standing firm against all unfair trade practices".
"Bringing hundreds of billions of dollars back to the United States of America from the Middle East - which will mean JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!" the president wrote on his Twitter profile.
Under pressure from other G7 states - the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan - Mr Trump put his name to commitments to avoid trade protectionism and preserve a rules-based trade system.
Cohn also said "His basis for decision ultimately is going to be what's best for the United States,".
Among other things, the group committed to take the lead on the implementation of the Paris Climate Accord.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised Mr Trump's "capacity to listen" and his "intention to progress with us".
A number of meetings were planned with chief executives of energy companies and big corporations and others about the climate agreement before the president will announce his decision later in the week, a source told Reuters. The thinking is that the White House doesn't want Pruitt to steal the spotlight from what it would see as a win for the president.
Aides to Trump said he was listening with an open mind to the other leaders' arguments about Paris, but had yet to decide whether to withdraw the U.S. from the pact.
The leaders are expected to issue a vastly shorter communique than in previous years, with one European diplomat suggesting it might be just six pages long compared to 32 last year. He has previously suggested that climate change is a hoax and appointed as the head of the EPA a man who said he does not believe human activity is a primary contributor to global warming, though the vast amount of literature suggests otherwise.
