(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Donald Trump was isolated on climate change at the Group of Seven, as the president said he's in no rush to decide whether to scrap U.S. involvement in the Paris Agreement.
A closed-door session on the first day of the G-7 summit in Sicily found unity on stepping up efforts to combat terrorism, but entered stormier waters on trade and on climate, Merkel said. At that stage it was six against one as leaders pressed Trump to hold to U.S. agreements made under the landmark Paris climate accord.
“We made it clear that we want the U.S. to stick to its commitments,” Merkel told reporters after the meeting on Friday. “There were very different arguments from us all urging the president to hold to the climate accord.” She said the discussion was conducted in a very “honest” atmosphere, leading to a “very intense exchange.”
After deriding climate change as a hoax and pledging to pull out of the Paris deal during his election campaign, Trump has sidestepped the issue and passed up an number of opportunities to outline his international stance toward global warming. Members of his administration are deadlocked about whether the U.S. should uphold the pact.
Merkel said that the U.S. side made clear that it hasn't yet taken a decision on whether to scrap Paris “and won't make a decision here” at the G-7.
Taking Time
In the meeting, G-7 leaders asked Trump his timeframe for making a decision, according to a briefing by his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn. Trump said, “I'd rather take my time” and get to the right decision, Cohn told reporters traveling with Trump in Sicily.
Trump also expressed concerns that other countries that had tried to dial back their climate emissions like China and India had seen job growth suffer -- and made clear he was not prepared to live with that trade-off, Cohn said.
Trump told the leaders, “he didn't want to be in second place,” Cohn said, especially because he ran on a platform of job creation and improving working-and middle-class opportunities and is committed to keeping that promise, Cohn said.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, the summit's host, said separately that there was “no agreement” on the Paris accord.
“President Trump will take time to reflect on it, and the other countries are taking note of that,” Gentiloni said.
“His views are evolving,” Cohn said, but Trump's decision will be based on what's best for the United States. The president “is thinking about what his options are.” Trump “feels much more knowledgeable on the topic now,” said Cohn.
--With assistance from Flavia Krause-Jackson
To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net, Margaret Talev in Taormina, Sicily at mtalev@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net.
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