WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed the Paris climate accord for the French "yellow vest" protests, while claiming that the agitators chanted: "We want Trump!" Last year, Trump withdrew the US from the landmark international Paris Agreement, which was also signed by India, on attempting to bring down global temperatures.
Trump reaffirmed that decision in November last week when he refused to sign onto the G20's non-binding joint statement promising to tackle climate change.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change was signed during the previous Obama administration.
"The Paris Agreement isn't working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France," Trump tweeted.
"People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment.
Chanting 'We Want Trump! Love France,' he further tweeted.
The Paris "yellow vest" protests, which began on November 17 with road blockades against fuel prices, have since ballooned into a mass movement against French President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump has argued that the Paris accord was unjust to the US and favoured developing countries like India and China.