What was promised
There's some backstory here. Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement during his first presidency and the US left in November 2020. Biden got the US back into the agreement in 2021. Trump's campaign let people know he'd pull out again if he won in 2024.
In June 2024 POLITICO asked his campaign whether he would repeat the withdrawal. The national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, replied: "Yes, he has said that" he would. PolitiFact's tracker of his 2024 promises records the pledge in his words as "We will again get out of (the) Paris" climate agreement, though I didn't find a transcript of Trump making it himself in 2024.
According to POLITICO there were executive orders that were being drafted by conservatives if Trump won. One would have the US pull out of all UN Agreements related to the Paris agreement. This includes pulling out of the UN agreement that established the framework for the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992. That's a bigger, separate step. There's a separate post for that one.
What's happened since
Day one. On January 20th 2025 Trump signed an executive order at an indoor event at Capital One Arena in Washington DC in lieu of an inauguration parade. He stated he was pulling the US out of the "unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Accord rip-off.", as reported by The National. "The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity," he said.
The executive order instructed the US Ambassador to the United Nations to send written notification to the UN Secretary General that we are withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The Executive Order also stated that the US would withdraw from any other agreements under the UN agreement regarding climate change. Any funds committed to these agreements by the US would be ceased or revoked and the International Climate Finance plan was rescinded.
A year later. The order said the US would treat its withdrawal as "effective immediately", but the agreement doesn't work that way: under Article 28, a withdrawal takes effect a year after the UN receives the notice. The UN Secretary-General recorded the US notice on 27 January 2025 and set the exit date at 27 January 2026. PolitiFact rated the pledge "Promise Kept" that month, seeing "no reason to believe that it won't happen."
No show. When COP30 was held in Belém, Brazil the US did not send any key officials to represent them. A White House Official told AFP that they would not be attending.
Further still. On the 7th of January 2026 Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing federal agencies to withdraw from multiple organizations. One of these organizations was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. It stated that if the organization is run by the UN that we will stop participating and/or funding these organizations. For UN bodies, it said, withdrawal means "ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law."
Out. As of January 27th 2026 the US officially left the Paris Agreement. E&E News reported that the US was now the only country to have quit the pact twice, and one of the only countries in the world without a goal for reducing its climate pollution. PolitiFact had noted that it would join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only UN members outside the agreement. "Thanks to President Trump, the U.S. has officially escaped from the Paris Climate Agreement which undermined American values and priorities, wasted hard-earned taxpayer dollars, and stifled economic growth," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told E&E News.
Where this promise stands now.
Delivered. Trump said he would pull out of the Paris agreement again. On day 1 of his second term he signed an executive order directing us to pull out. On the 27th of January 2026 we officially left the Paris agreement. The only discrepancy here is that the executive order stated we would be out "immediately" but due to the terms of the agreement we were not considered out until a year after giving notice.
There are a couple of caveats to this. The Paris agreement does not call for countries to meet a certain amount of carbon emission goals. Each country can choose their own goals as stated by the Congressional Research Service. So by us leaving we aren't directly affecting anything unless our government decides to raise carbon emissions goals. The EPA rescinded the "endangerment finding" that many laws are built off of regarding climate change in February of 2026. Many states are currently suing over this. Also just because we are out doesn't mean we will stay out. Biden signed us back into the agreement on his first day in office and we joined one month later.
Opinion
It's a shame Donnie doesn't like "windmills" as he calls them. Cheaper electricity with no carbon emissions. Less profit for the oil majors though.