Article snippet: "America First" takes America out of the lead –- and places the nation virtually by itself. President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord has vast implications, ranging from the environmental and the moral to the diplomatic and the crassly political. It's an intentionally provocative move by a polarizing president, laying bare divisions in the country at large and even inside the White House itself. Most broadly, the moment marks Trump’s decision to cede world leadership in the service of a different brand of American ideology. Trump saw it as a moment for celebration, using the White House Rose Garden to declare loyalty to American workers over world responsibilities. "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," the president said, in a tidy summation of Trumpism's promise and appeal. With America’s exit, Germany, France and others are positioning themselves to take up mantles of world leadership, after a G7 meeting produced an odd statement on climate that was signed off on by only six nations. Even China, Russia and Nicaragua as the only nations in the world not part of the Paris accord; Nicaragua didn’t join in large part because leaders there thought the agreement didn’t go far enough. The president framed the decision, in part, as an attempt to get a better deal, promising that he would be open to a new round of negotiations with Democrats and world partners. Notably, he did... Link to the full article to read more