Donald Trump has announced that he will withdraw the US from the Paris climate change agreement.

The decision was condemned immediately by environmental campaigners and by the president’s political opponents who said it heralded the death of America’s position as a global leader.

However, Mr Trump held out the hope of a compromise saying he would immediately start a process to develop a fairer deal that would protect American workers.

During a belligerent White House rose garden address, the US president said he wanted to reassert American sovereignty.

"We don't want other countries and other leaders laughing at us anymore," he said, adding that the current deal could cost the US as many as 2.7 million jobs by 2025.

“The Paris climate accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States, to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers, who I love, and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories and vastly diminished economic production,” he said.