Tillerson: Trump not ‘walking away’ from addressing environment

by Rebecca Savransky - 06/05/17 8:31 AM ET

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday reaffirmed President Trump’s commitment to the environment days after Trump announced he was pulling the United States out of the Paris climate change agreement.

“He’s not walking away from it,” Tillerson said at a news conference, according to The Associated Press,

“He’s simply walking away from what he felt was an agreement that did not serve the American people well.”

{mosads}Tillerson said during comments in Sydney that Trump wants “perhaps a new construct of an agreement,” the news service reported.

He suggested Trump thinks the climate change issue “is still important,” adding that Trump wants to “stay engaged on the issue.”

His comments come after Trump last week rejected the Paris accord, calling it “unfair at the highest level to the United States.”

Trump cast the decision as one that puts the U.S. first, a central theme of his presidency.

“In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord,” Trump said in a sunny outdoor ceremony at the White House Rose Garden.

“The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States,” Trump said.

The president added: “We are getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that is fair.”

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