Trump’s symbolic claim to represent ‘Pittsburgh not Paris’

President Donald Trump says the US has withdrawn from the climate accord. Picture: AP

Donald Trump has abandoned the Paris climate pact with a full throated roar, appealing to all the America First sentiments that got him elected.

This was Trump back in campaign mode; unapologetic, brazen and dismissive of his opponents.

His claim to represent the citizens of ‘Pittsburgh not Paris’ was symbolic of his defiant tone throughout his long speech in the White House rose garden.

• TRUMP PARIS DECISION: Live coverage

He used the occasion of this, arguably his biggest decision as president, to appeal directly to his voter base. This was a decision that he said was all about jobs, economic opportunity and fairness to American workers. It was his appeal to those he calls the forgotten people.

The only concession he made to future US efforts to control carbon emissions was that he would seek to renegotiate an entry to the Paris deal or another similar deal if the terms were more fair to America and American workers.

Trump’s decision will be seen by many other nations as a selfish and insular approach in the face of Global warming. It is guaranteed to spark and outcry from America’s allies. But it is this America First approach that delivered the White House to Donald Trump.

In much of regional and rural America struggling families do not view climate change in the way that people in big American cities do. These families are more concerned with putting food on the table, keeping their jobs and paying the mortgage. These are the areas that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

He will have lost no support among them for today’s decision, no matter how much others might seek to criticise it.