> acquires a bargaining chip with Europe and China that he can cash in later. Not really. There's nothing that he acquires by leaving a non-binding, aspiration

> acquires a bargaining chip with Europe and China that he can cash in later. Not really. There's nothing that he acquires by leaving a non-binding, aspirational agreement other than burning goodwill in effigy. What this means to the rest of the world is that the US cannot even be assumed to abide by voluntary agreements where it can unilaterally declare how much it actually wishes to contribute. The message that the EU/China are getting is either that they're being given the middle finger for purposes of jingoistic posturing or that Trump doesn't actually understand how the Paris agreement works.