President Trump suggested Saturday dissolving the “ridiculous” Paris climate agreement after another weekend of rioting in France, chaos sparked by the Macron government’s attempt to reduce emissions by hiking fuel taxes.
“Very sad day & night in Paris,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Maybe it’s time to end the ridiculous and extremely expensive Paris Agreement and return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes? The U.S. was way ahead of the curve on that and the only major country where emissions went down last year!”
Mr. Trump’s comment came after Paris police deployed tear gas, armored vehicles and water cannons to control the massive, sometimes violent “yellow vest” demonstrators who flooded the streets Saturday for a fourth straight weekend of protests.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Saturday that 135 people were injured, including 17 police officers, as 125,000 protesters took to the streets nationwide, including 10,000 in Paris. About 1,000 people were taken into custody using “exceptional” security measures.
The demonstrations continued despite French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision last week to scrap the proposed tax increase on gasoline and diesel in response to the protests, which have since ballooned into a working-class revolt against the high cost of living and perceived elitist government.
“These past weeks have produced a monster that its creators no longer control,” Mr. Castaner said Friday.
SEE ALSO: Rioting engulfs Paris as anger grows over high French taxes
Some protesters shouted “Macron resign,” while one sign said, “No climate justice without fiscal and social justice,” according to wire-service reports.
Mr. Trump placed the blame squarely on the 2015 Paris agreement, the nonbinding U.N.-sponsored accord that calls for nations to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in order to limit the increase in global temperatures to under 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
Mr. Trump said last year that he will pull the United States out of the accord, citing the “draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country.”
In another Saturday tweet, Mr. Trump said, “The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris.”
“People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment. Chanting ’We Want Trump!’ Love France,” he tweeted.
Very sad day & night in Paris. Maybe it’s time to end the ridiculous and extremely expensive Paris Agreement and return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes? The U.S. was way ahead of the curve on that and the only major country where emissions went down last year!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2018
The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France. People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment. Chanting “We Want Trump!” Love France.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2018
Whether French protesters have actually done so is a matter of dispute. Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk tweeted Tuesday that ” ’We want Trump’ being chanted through the streets of Paris,” which has been challenged by several media outlets, including CNN and Le Monde.
“Neither Associated Press journalists covering protests in the city nor any French television networks have shown evidence that supporters were chanting any slogans in support of Trump,” said the AP in a Saturday report.
Conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said Monday that friends of his in Paris have heard the chants.
“You know what’s been overheard in some of the cheering over there? I kid you not. I know friends who are there. There are some people wearing the yellow vests chanting, ’We want Trump’ among the rioters in Paris,” Mr. Limbaugh said.
U.S. carbon emissions fell by 2.7 percent in 2017, continuing a decade-long decline attributed in part to power plants replacing coal with natural gas.
This report was based in part on wire service reports.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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