Leonardo DiCaprio shudders as Trump pulls U.S. out of Paris Agreement

Leonardo DiCaprio has taken aim at U.S. leader Donald Trump for pulling out of the Paris Agreement, created to combat global climate change.

The President confirmed his plans during a press conference on Thursday (01Jun17), and the movie star, who created the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to help promote environmental awareness, was among the first people to respond.

"Today, the future livability of our planet was threatened by President Trump's careless decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement," he wrote in a statement posted on his social media platforms. "Our future on this planet is now more at risk than ever before.

"For Americans and those in the world community looking for strong leadership on climate issues, this action is deeply discouraging. Now, more than ever, we must be determined to solve climate change... It’s more important than ever to take action. #ParisAgreement. Take action by supporting these organizations on the front lines of this fight: @IndivisibleTeam @StandUpAmerica @NRDC."

The Paris Agreement was drawn up last year (16), during Trump's predecessor Barack Obama's regime, and 195 countries signed off on it.

Many environmentalists, like DiCaprio, who executive produced and appeared in the climate change documentary Before the Flood, fear Trump's move is a big step backward.

Tesla founder Elon Musk, who had been serving on presidential councils, has announced he will be stepping down from Trump's advisory council due to this Paris Agreement decision, stating: "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."

John Legend also took aim at Trump for his decision, calling the President "our national embarrassment".

"We have to stop this a**hole," he tweeted. "This is urgent. You have to vote in 2018."

Meanwhile, singer Ellie Goulding urged her followers to read Obama's statement on Trump's decision, which read in part: "The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got."

There was also social media criticism from Bette Midler, who called the U.S. leader "Short-sighted".

"There has never in US history been such a destructive megalomaniac in the WH (White House). Thank you to US press and other numbskulls who put him there," she raged.