President Donald Trump proclaimed Thursday he was withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accord, a sweeping step that fulfills a campaign promise while acutely dampening global efforts to curb global warming.

Speaking from the White House, Trump said he was open to renegotiating aspects of the agreement, which was inked under his predecessor and which all nations except two have signed onto.

But he was withering in his criticism of the pact, which he cast as a humiliating defeat for American workers that unfairly advantaged foreign countries.

“At what point does America get demeaned? At what point do they start laughing at us as a country?” Trump inquired during an afternoon event held in a sun-drenched Rose Garden.

“We want fair treatment,” Trump said. “We don’t want other countries and other leaders to laugh at us anymore.”

The decision amounts to a rebuttal of the worldwide effort to pressure Trump to remain a part of the agreement, which 195 nations signed onto. Foreign leaders, business executives and Trump’s own daughter, Ivanka, lobbied heavily for him to remain a part of the deal, but ultimately lost out to conservatives who claim the plan is bad for the United States.

 Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/01/politics/trump-paris-climate-decision/index.html