Trump is an 'environmentalist,' insists Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
(Image credit: Screenshot/Today)

President Trump is an "environmentalist," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed Friday on the Today show, the day after Trump announced that he is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. "He's very pro-environment," Ross said, explaining that those who say otherwise are "confusing the withdrawal" from the agreement aimed at limiting carbon emissions to help slow global warming "with the idea that he's against helping the climate." Ross emphasized that while Trump pulled out of the deal, he is not saying he's "not going to try to improve climate."

Today host Matt Lauer wasn't buying Ross' depiction of Trump as an "environmentalist." "How can you say he's an environmentalist when he's rolled back many of the initiatives of the Obama administration and now he's basically taken a 180-degree turn from what the Obama administration did in signing this Paris accord?"

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up
Latest Videos FromThe Week