It didn't come as a complete surprise but President Donald Trump decided that he was removing the United States from the historic Paris climate accord. After the decision was made official, Trump became a top target across social media.

Trump on Paris accord

Not long after Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, he quickly took the conservative party line of dismissing climate change and global warming. Even before he was a candidate for office, Trump ripped the idea of global warming, claiming it was a "hoax" invented by the Chinese. Trump's campaign rhetoric brought climate change denial even more into the mainstream, which increased after his primary and general election wins over the last year.

Another step in his attack on global warming came in nominating Scott Pruitt, a notorious and vocal climate denier, to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In recent weeks, speculation increased as to whether or not the former host of "The Apprentice" would back the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, delaying the decision during his recent foreign trip. Despite this, as reported by BBC on June 1, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, prompting instant backlash in return.

Standing in the Rose Garden at the White House, Donald Trump confirmed what many knew was coming.

"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord," Trump said. "But to begin negotiations to reenter the Paris climate accord or really an entirely new transaction," he continued.

"We are getting out," Donald Trump said once again.

"We will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair," he continued, before adding, "if we can, that's great. If we can't, that's fine." Trump's decision makes the United States one of only three countries out of 197 who have refused to sign on, joining Syria and Nicaragua in the process. President Obama released a statement, saying Trump will "reject the future" with his decision.

Twitter reacts

In response to Donald Trump's removal of the United States from the climate deal, social media users expressed their opposition. "Good news! Thanks to Trump’s decision to pull out of the #ParisClimateDeal, we’ve all been cast in the newest Mad Max movie," one sarcastic tweet noted.

"Trump just committed a crime against humanity.

This admitted predator has now expanded his predatory acts to the entire planet," filmmaker Michael Moore tweeted out, while adding in a follow-up message, "America First! Earth Last!" "Trump is having the U.S. pull out of the Paris Climate Accord. Too bad someone didn't tell his father that he should pulled out, too," actor George Takei wrote on his Twitter account.

"Just to be clear: what Trump is saying makes *literally* no sense.

He very obviously does not understand its most basic structure," MSNBC host Chris Hayes tweeted. As the backlash continued, it was made clear that the political divide in the United States was not going to end at any point in the near future.
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