Donald Trump will announce his decision on whether or not the US will leave the Paris climate agreement at 3pm Eastern Time on Thursday, the US president announced on Twitter.
He will speak in the Rose Garden at the White House. Just seven months ago, Barack Obama stood in the same place and hailed an “historic” day as the Paris agreement entered into legal force.
Trump is heavily tipped to take the US out of the international climate accord – including by sources Climate Home’s Zack Colman spoke to in Washington on Wednesday.
Report: Trump told Pruitt to make plan to leave Paris deal, stay in UNFCCC
One source told Colman the president had told his environment chief Scott Pruitt begin preparing a plan that involved the US staying within the overarching UN climate treaty, but pulling out of the Paris deal. That’s significant for future reentry.
But the machinations of the White House and its rival factions have continued to the last, with secretary of state Rex Tillerson meeting Trump on Wednesday afternoon. Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil chief executive, has argued that the US would be better to push its reinvigorated pro-fossil fuel agenda from within the agreement.
Follow: @ClimateHome, @climatemegan , @zcolman , @KarlMathiesen
Don’t expect today to be the end of speculation. The permutations of how Trump could manage the withdrawal are many. As are the differing stresses on the agreement if the US does remain a party.
Whatever Trump announces will answer one question, but likely throw up many more – this president is not in the certainty business.
Join our live blog, with Zack Colman stateside and myself in London, from around 2pm ET (7pm BST) for quick analysis and decoding of what is likely to be a cryptic speech.