European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted a direct appeal to US President Donald Trump early Thursday not to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Trump has said he will announce his decision on the landmark climate accord later Thursday. Two senior US officials familiar with Trump's plans told CNN on Wednesday that the US President is expected to withdraw from the Paris accord.
If so, this would be a major break from international partners -- including the European Union -- that would isolate the United States in global efforts to curb global warming.
In what appeared to be a last-ditch appeal, Tusk tweeted: "@realDonaldTrump please don't change the (political) climate for the worse."
Trump tweeted late Wednesday that he would announce his decision at 3 p.m. in the White House Rose Garden, ending his message " MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters a day earlier that he wasn't sure whether Trump had made a final decision yet.
"I obviously don't know whether he's made it," Spicer said during an afternoon briefing. "When the President has a decision he will make that announcement and he will make it clear what the basis of that is."
The White House was initially slated to make a final decision on the climate accord earlier this month, but then said it would wait until after last week's G7 meeting in Sicily.
At the summit, leaders expressed dismay at Trump's climate stance. After the meetings concluded, the US refused to sign onto a statement of support for the Paris accord that all other G7 participants approved.
The Paris climate agreement was established during a 2015 conference in the French capital. Every nation signed on minus two: war-torn Syria and Nicaragua, which insists the deal isn't tough enough.
In signing onto the accord, countries pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but were given wide leeway in how much they planned to reduce them by.
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