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Trump Links Paris Climate Accord, French Fuel-Tax Protests

Trump Links Paris Climate Accord, French Fuel-Tax Protests

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump sought to tie violent protests across France triggered by public anger over higher fuel taxes with the Paris climate accord, a treaty he has denounced.

“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris,” Trump tweeted on Saturday as French authorities sought to quell “Yellow Vests” protests, which began over fuel taxes but have expanded to pension issues, a higher minimum wage and restoration of a wealth tax.

Trump said that “people do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment."

Trump ended his tweet with the assertion that Paris protesters had chanted “We Want Trump!”

Last week French President Emmanuel Macron’s government reversed course and suspended a planned fuel-tax increase that sparked the protests that entered a fourth weekend on Saturday.

Last weekend Trump also cited the protests in France to defend his decision to pull the U.S. out of the climate agreement reached in December 2015.

To contact the reporter on this story: Deana Kjuka in Prague at dkjuka@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Kingdon at ckingdon@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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