What Trump’s exit from the climate deal really means

By Sara Schonhardt, Zack Colman, Karl Mathiesen | 01/20/2025 01:42 PM EST

Quitting the Paris Agreement triggers a cascade of real-world impacts and signals the beginning of an aggressive agenda to undo U.S. climate policy.

President Donald Trump speaks after taking the oath of office.

President Donald Trump speaks Monday after taking the oath of office during the 60th presidential inauguration in the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP

President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. on Monday to withdraw once again from the 2015 Paris climate agreement — instantly isolating the country from the global campaign to stem catastrophic warming.

This time, Trump’s repudiation of the worldwide climate effort could bite deeper by taking effect more quickly and at a time when the new president has more far-right allies overseas and at home.

Language in Trump’s executive order said the U.S. would consider the withdrawal to take effect “immediately.” It didn’t mention the one-year notice period that the climate pact spells out.

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The order, which Trump signed with public fanfare just hours after taking office, collides with a rise in climate havoc around the world, including the devastating Los Angeles wildfires and revelations that last year was the hottest ever recorded. It marks the launch of an aggressive agenda to roll back U.S. climate policy, driven by an emboldened president who invites confrontation over the scientific underpinnings of climate change.

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