France's Macron says he may have convinced Trump to re-enter the Paris climate accord

Trump and Emmanuel Macron show love in Paris

(Image credit: Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images)

Late last week, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted President Trump, and by all accounts, the two leaders overcame their handshaking aggression and jabs-with-frenemies and had a lovely, amicable time watching a U.S.-French military parade together and dining at an opulent restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. On Sunday, Macron said that he may have gotten more out of the Bastille Day lovefest than a good bro hug with Trump.

Trump "told me that he would try to find a solution in the coming months" to the Paris climate agreement, which Trump began to pull the U.S. out of earlier this year, Macron told Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday. "We spoke in detail about the things that could make him come back to the Paris accord." Macron, who has criticized Trump's decision on Paris, may be overly optimistic about changing Trump's mind, but if he does, it would only be fitting: White House officials have said Macron's public comments about his aggressive handshake with Trump was one of the factors that convinced Trump to ditch the Paris Agreement in the first place. Apparently on such things hang the balance of life on Planet Earth.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.