French President Emmanuel Macron says President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord was “very aggressive” but actually created more momentum to act on climate change.

Macron told CBS News Monday that Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal “created a huge momentum to me to create a counter-momentum.”

“So the withdrawal of the U.S., which for me is a mistake, that equates an impulse for a lot of others to say, ‘OK, we have to react and do something, because it's impossible to leave this all to — a sort of dismantling of the Paris Agreement,’ " Macron said.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Second, a deep wakeup call for the private sectors and some of us to say, ‘Wow, so we have to react.’ If we decide not to move and not change our way to produce, to invest, to behave, we will be responsible for billions of victims,” he continued.

“I don't want to be a leader in such a situation, so let's act right now.”

Macron hit Trump over the decision to leave the deal, calling it ridiculous to suggest renegotiating the agreement with the roughly 200 nations involved.

“It's extremely aggressive to decide on its own just to leave, and no way to push the others to renegotiate because one decided to leave the floor,” Macron said. “I’m sorry to say that. It doesn't fly.”

The French president also said that he had told Trump that the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would be “a mistake.”

However, he dodged directly answering a question over whether the decision would impact peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

“My first concern is to preserve peace and calm in the whole region. Second, I think we have to discuss with all the parties and try to find a way out,” Macron said.

“But obviously, the reaction of the Palestinians will not be very positive,” he continued. “They are not in a good mood to progress towards any peace process.”