US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change pact has prompted reactions from all over the world, mostly questioning the logic of exiting a carefully negotiated agreement that managed to bring almost every country on earth to the same table. Trump blamed countries like India and China for getting a better deal in the pact, and said the US was pulling out to ensure it would be able to do what was best for Americans. There was much criticism of the move, from both within the US and beyond, as many pointed out that climate change is not a challenge that respects national borders.
The Weather Channel, an American news network, dedicated its website to explaining just how disastrous Trump’s decision was. Every card under the banner headline announcing Trump’s decision was a reminder of just how bad the climate change problem confronting humans actually is.
Of course, the Weather Channel was not alone. While the broadsheet newspapers stuck sombre notes, with headlines simply announcing Trump’s huge move, the two famous New York tabloids stuck to their usual wit. The New York Daily News had a large picture of trump with the headline, ‘Trump to world: drop dead’, with a line under saying, ‘decides to hell with science, Earth’s future.’
The New York Post went with ‘French toast’ a reference to the fact that the climate change deal has come to be known as the Paris pact, because the French capital played host to the final negotiations.
Political cartoonists also took the opportunity to point out what sort of situation Trump was leading the world into by ignoring the real and present danger posed by climate change. Varying cartoons lampooned Trump’s ‘America First’ slogan and depicted the US president walking away from Noah’s Ark with the flood about to hit.
Naturally, Twitter also got into the game, at various levels. French President Emanuel Macron echoed Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan with one that was more relevant for a global audience, while others added the US president to beloved 90s cartoons.
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