Tim Cook urges Trump not to back out of Paris agreement

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Peter Thiel separates Tim Cook and Donald Trump at tech summit.
Peter Thiel separates Tim Cook and Donald Trump at tech summit.
Photo: Sean Spicer/Twitter

President Donald Trump is considering pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, but some of the biggest names in tech are begging him to stay in, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Trump announced today that his decision on the Paris agreement will be revealed in the next few days. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said that the agreement was bad for America. Now that he’s on the verge of pulling out, Tim Cook, Elon Musk and others are desperately trying to tell Trump to that breaking the agreement would be a disaster.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Tim Cook called the White House on Tuesday urging the president to keep the U.S. in the agreement. Elon Musk tweeted today that he has also directly advised the president to remain in on the deal that was signed by 195 countries.

Pressuring Trump to stay

While Musk and Cook have called Trump directly, 25 other companies have signed an open letter to Trump that will run as a full-page ad in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Intel, Microsoft and PG&E are among the signees.

Twenty-five companies, including Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp. and PG&E Corp., have signed on to a letter set to run as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal on Thursday arguing in favor of climate pact.

“By expanding markets for innovative clean technologies, the agreement generates jobs and economic growth,” the open letter says. “U.S. companies are well positioned to lead in these markets. Withdrawing from the agreement will limit our access to them and could expose us to retaliatory measures.”

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