World leaders assembled at the G-7 summit last week desperately tried to convince President Donald Trump of the dangers of climate change, including a dire warning from French President Emmanuel Macron that "China now leads" the world in the effort.
According to G-7 meeting notes obtained by the German publication Der Spiegel, world leaders pleaded with Trump not to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
"Climate change is real and it affects the poorest countries," Macron explained to Trump. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reminded Trump that other efforts, like fighting the ozone hole, had been successful.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointed out the economic opportunities of renewable energy.
"If the world's largest economic power were to pull out, the field would be left to the Chinese," Merkel cautioned Trump, adding that Xi Jinping is clever and will take advantage of the vacuum left by the U.S.
According to Der Spiegel, Trump refused to budge.
"For me," Trump admitted, "it's easier to stay in than step out."
But in the end, he insisted that the Paris Accord was costing American jobs, and that was all that mattered.
"Now China leads," Macron concluded.
