President Donald Trump says the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, saying the accord is detrimental to the U.S. economy and that he will open negotiations to seek a new deal.

Trump on June 1 said in the Rose Garden of the White House that he was fulfilling his "solemn duty to protect America and its citizens” and restoring U.S. “sovereignty” by “getting out” of the climate agreement signed by 194 other countries.

"The bottom line is the Paris accord is very unfair, at the highest level, to the United States," he said. "The agreement is massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries."

However, he said he would begin negotiations to reenter the agreement, or an “entirely new transaction,” under terms more fair to the United States.

“If we can [strike a new deal], that’s great. If we can’t, that’s fine,” he said.

Trump said the withdrawal from the agreement will reassert U.S. "sovereignty" over its economic affairs.

Read the full story on RFE/RL