Pittsburgh over Paris: Trump climate speech puts America first

"I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," was one of the more memorable lines from President Donald Trump’s speech Thursday at the White House Rose Garden, explaining the administration’s rationale for withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

President Trump: "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” #ParisClimateAccord #climatechange pic.twitter.com/3HaenawVHG

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 1, 2017

Here are some others …

During the speech, Trump referred to the agreement as a “major, self-inflicted economic wound.”

Trump says America would continue to suffer self-inflicted major economic wound if it stuck with Paris Accord. On @abcnews now.

— Joe O'Brien (@JoeABCNews) June 1, 2017

The president also noted that the agreement would have cost America in both revenue and lost jobs while “imposing no meaningful obligations on the world’s leading polluters,” like India and China.

Trump: Paris climate deal is "massive redistribution of wealth from the US to other countries"

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 1, 2017

Ultimately, according to the president’s remarks in the Rose Garden, the Paris accord withdrawal was “a reassertion of American sovereignty” that keeps the U.S. in charge of its own energy and environmental policies.

Pres. Trump says withdrawing from the Paris agreement “protects the United States from future intrusions on the United States’ sovereignty” pic.twitter.com/2NfG9fBrLe

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) June 1, 2017

Trump: Paris Climate Accord 'hamstrings' US. Trump emphasis on need to "reassert' U.S. "sovereignty"

— Lynn Sweet (@lynnsweet) June 1, 2017

“It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., and Pittsburgh, Penn., along with many, many other locations within our great country, before Paris, France,” the President concluded.

It’s important to remember following Thursday’s address, however, that the agreement does not end with the day’s news cycle. First off, the process is going to take about four years, a White House official explained to reporters prior to the decision.

Furthermore, the president also pledged to continue to work with the international community to negotiate a deal “on terms that are fair to the United States.”

“So we’re getting out,” Trump said. “But we will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair. And if we can, that’s great. And if we can’t, that’s fine.”