German minister says climate will ‘survive’ Trump presidency

German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks told California Governor Jerry Brown in San Francisco on Friday (June 9) that the Earth’s climate will last longer than U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency.

“According to the U.S. constitution, a president can only serve for two terms, so eight years, so to speak, and I think that climate is going to survive this,” the German minister told reporters during a news conference.

Trump said on June 1 he would withdraw the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry.

Trump, tapping into the “America First” message he used when he was elected president last year, said the Paris accord would undermine the U.S. economy, cost U.S. jobs, weaken American national sovereignty and put the country at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world.