G20 Summit: 'G19' leave Donald Trump alone in joint statement on climate pact

After the publication of a final communique that saw the emergence of a G19 grouping for the first time, Theresa May said she was "dismayed at the US decision to pull out" of the accord and had personally urged the president to reconsider. Asked why she had failed to raise the issue during a formal 50-minute bilateral meeting with Trump at the Hamburg Messehallen, as furious negotiations were still going on behind the scenes, the prime minister said: "I did bring the issue of climate change agreement up with President Trump.

"I have had a number of conversations with him while I've been here at the G20. What I did was encourage him to bring the United States back into the Paris agreement, and I continue to hope that's what the United States will do."

It came after the president promised May that the US was ready to strike a trade deal with the UK as soon as possible after Brexit. "There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries," Trump said. "We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal — a very powerful deal, great for both countries—and I think we will have that done very, very quickly."

He added: "Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries." The G20 meeting saw a number of tense encounters between Trump and other world leaders, with a particular clash between him and the French delegation over climate change, but also tensions over protectionism and the overproduction of steel. The final communique said: "We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris agreement." It added: "The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris agreement is irreversible."