COLUMN: Trump and the Paris Accord: 5 things we've learned

— -- President Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord that was supported nearly universally around the globe, taking America one more step in retreat from the world stage. Today, Trump's approval rating sits at 40 percent, while his disapproval rating is in the mid-50s and support for the Paris Climate Accord is at 70 percent.

So what does yesterday's announcement tell us broadly? Here are my five takeaways:

1. In these first months of his presidency, Trump is abdicating his role as "leader of the free world." Leaders of democratic countries around the world view him with great suspicion and distrust, and Trump's support seems to come only from autocratic regimes that show a disregard for human rights and a free press (Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Philippines). Today, with Trump now confirmed as no longer the "leader of the free world", that role now falls to the president of France or the German chancellor who each have a greater degree of respect in the world's eyes than President Trump.

2. By continuing to knock those he calls "globalists" and promoting the idea of "America first", the White House and its fans are seriously diminishing our country's moral authority in the world. How can we simultaneously be against the global community and yet threaten countries like Iran or North Korea if they don't behave? It makes no sense and is amazingly hypocritical.

3. As others have pointed out, the withdrawal from the climate deal is very likely to seriously impede economic growth in America. Some of the fastest-growing sectors for job growth are around clean energy and the production of environmentally-conscious products, not in the fossil fuels industry. Jobs in the coal industry have been lost not because of the Paris agreement but due to the rise of automation and plentiful supplies of clean natural gas. Let's not forget that the history of the world is energy innovation: We have gone from wood burning to fossil fuels to nuclear and now to wind, solar and other clean energy. You can't stop innovation, and we shouldn't want to. These actions by Trump are as if a president in the early 20th century attempted to prop up the horse-and-buggy industry while dissing the automobile revolution.

4. Our democracy has always depended on folks going beyond the interests of their particular tribes, making sacrifices and working for the common good. And the same is true for our planet: We have to be able to look at the good of the whole and not focus only on how a policy may affect one group or region. Tribalism is a growing problem in America and the world and threatens not only our democracy but the stability of the social order. This retreat from the climate agreement is another step toward increased tribalism. Remember the final 14 words of the Declaration of Independence "...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

5. The president's actions show that he, and the White House staff and GOP leaders in Congress who back him, have no desire to expand their base of support beyond a minority of American voters. They have made few if any steps to reach out to a broader segment of the country and build a coalition that encompasses citizens in all demographics and geographic territories. Keep in mind that President Trump's coalition of voters has been shrinking since Election Day. He was elected with 46 percent of the vote and now has only a 40-percent approval rating. Though he has some diehard fans, they represent fewer than a third of all American citizens. In fact, only around 20 percent of American voters strongly approve of the president.

My Christian faith teaches me that we are supposed care for each other no matter the apparent boundaries between us and to take care of this Earth given to us by God. And my sense of patriotism says that America is at its best when we work together for the common good. The Paris Accord represents both those aspirations. All the folks who use icons of flags and crosses on their Twitter feeds should understand the real meaning of those symbols.

Matthew Dowd is an ABC News analyst and special correspondent. Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of ABC News.