



While European nations led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been at the forefront of the international effort to rein in global warming, Trump has called climate science a hoax, vowing to slash environmental rules restricting coal and pull out of the Paris climate deal agreed at a UN meeting in 2015.



Since he won the election in November, Trump and his officials have sent mixed signals about how they might act. While continuing to emphasize the importance of coal, Trump has said he will keep an open mind about the Paris agreement. Tillerson has said the U.S. should keep a seat at the table of the UN talks, which involve more than 190 nations.



Germany hasn't had a clear signal about how the U.S. will respond to G-20 initiatives or the broader Paris Climate accord, according to the government official. The official said Germany isn't certain how much sway Tillerson will have.



Tillerson supported the Paris agreement when he was chairman of the biggest U.S. oil company, ExxonMobil. The State Department represents the U.S. at the U.N. climate talks, though domestic policies limiting emissions are controlled mostly by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and other bodies.