--- title: Donald Trump Once Called Climate Change Key Issue description: Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump called for strong measures to address climate change as recently as 2009 canonical: https://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-09T11:48:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:06.181Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Once Called Climate Change Key Issue og:description: Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump called for strong measures to address climate change as recently as 2009 og:url: https://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ccb4952d356ea8/69889712e20a873585a9128a/donald-trump-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump climate change global warming og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Once Called Climate Change Key Issue twitter:description: Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump called for strong measures to address climate change as recently as 2009 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ccb4952d356ea8/69889712e20a873585a9128a/donald-trump-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Supported Addressing Climate Change Before Calling It a 'Hoax' > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2016 11:48 AM UTC  U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters and the media following primary elections on June 7, 2016 in Briarcliff Manor, New York. U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters and the media following primary elections on June 7, 2016 in Briarcliff Manor, New York.John Moore—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2016 11:48 AM UTC Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump called for strong measures to address climate change as recently as 2009—a position in direct conflict with his [numerous dismissals](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/03/hillary-clinton/yes-donald-trump-did-call-climate-change-chinese-h/) of the issue as a “hoax.” Trump’s 2009 stance came in the form of an open letter to President Barack Obama and Congress published in the New York _Times_. The letter, first [reported](http://grist.org/politics/donald-trump-climate-action-new-york-times/) by Grist, was signed by Trump and other prominent business leaders in advance of the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks that most experts agree ended in failure. Trump’s children—Eric, Ivanka and Donald Jr.—all joined the letter as well. “We support your effort to ensure meaningful and effective measures to control climate change, an immediate challenge facing the United States and the world today,” the letter says. “Please allow us, the United States of America, to serve in modeling the change necessary to protect humanity and our planet.” Throughout the campaign Trump has challenged the urgency of addressing climate change using a variety of explanations from saying that the issue was “[created by and for the Chinese](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/265895292191248385?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw)” and that he believes climate change is [merely weather](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-global-warming%5Fus%5F5601d04fe4b08820d91aa753). His [energy policy proposals](http://time.com/4349309/donald-trump-bismarck-energy-speech/)—to the extent that he has any—suggest a similar view. He has promised to “cancel” the Paris Agreement to address climate change and to expand the use of coal. The letter is not the only inconsistency in Trump’s position on climate. The former reality TV star applied for a permit to [build a seawall](http://time.com/4345367/donald-trump-climate-change-golf-course/) to protect the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland from rising sea levels due to “global warming and its effects.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Supported Addressing Climate Change Before Calling It a 'Hoax'","datePublished":"2016-06-09T11:48:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:06.181Z","description":"It's not his first inconsistency on climate change","url":"https://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ccb4952d356ea8/69889712e20a873585a9128a/donald-trump-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ccb4952d356ea8/69889712e20a873585a9128a/donald-trump-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump climate change global warming","caption":"Donald Trump climate change global warming","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/","name":"Donald Trump Supported Addressing Climate Change Before Calling It a 'Hoax'"}}]}] ```