--- title: Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Man-Made Climate Change description: Donald Trump's campaign manager said that her candidate does not believe in man-made climate change following an exchange at the debate canonical: https://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-27T14:53:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:17.607Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Man-Made Climate Change og:description: Donald Trump's campaign manager said that her candidate does not believe in man-made climate change following an exchange at the debate og:url: https://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda50d147b753c165/6988a7a9a988cae1dd6b98bb/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3496 og:image:height: 1967 og:image:alt: donald trump hillary clinton climate change og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Man-Made Climate Change twitter:description: Donald Trump's campaign manager said that her candidate does not believe in man-made climate change following an exchange at the debate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda50d147b753c165/6988a7a9a988cae1dd6b98bb/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Man-Made Climate Change, Campaign Manager Says > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 27, 2016 2:53 PM UTC  Republican nominee Donald Trump gestures as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton looks on during the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on Sept. 26, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump gestures as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton looks on during the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on Sept. 26, 2016. Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 27, 2016 2:53 PM UTC Donald Trump’s campaign manager said Tuesday that her candidate does not believe in man-made climate change following a heated—and ambiguous—exchange on the issue at the first presidential debate. “He believes that global warming is naturally occurring,” Kellyanne Conway [said on CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/donald-trump-climate-change-kellyanne-conway/index.html). “There are shifts naturally occurring.” Conway’s remark clarifies a remark from Trump during Monday’s debate. Hillary Clinton accused Trump of saying climate change was a “hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.” Trump responded saying, “I do not say that,” but he did not clarify exactly what part of Clinton’s comment he found objectionable. Trump has repeatedly questioned the science of climate change and as recently as 2012 [called it a myth](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/265895292191248385?lang=en) created by China. Throughout the campaign he has promised to gut U.S. efforts to address the issue. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/265895292191248385) Nearly all climate scientists agree that humans are contributing to climate change and urgent measures are needed to address it. Both candidates offered their views on how to address climate change—and other key science issues under presidential purview—in a [survey of science policy](http://time.com/4488824/trump-clinton-climate-change-space/) earlier this month. In those answers, Trump dismissed global warming saying “there is still much that needs to be investigated” while Clinton outlined her plan. A group of 375 leading scientists, including 30 Nobel laureates, [penned a letter](http://time.com/4502561/donald-trump-stephen-hawking-climate-change/) criticizing Trump’s stance on climate change earlier this month. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Man-Made Climate Change, Campaign Manager Says","datePublished":"2016-09-27T14:53:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:17.607Z","description":"Trump has repeatedly questioned the science of climate change","url":"https://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda50d147b753c165/6988a7a9a988cae1dd6b98bb/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-climate-change.jpg?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/bltda50d147b753c165/6988a7a9a988cae1dd6b98bb/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald trump hillary clinton climate change","caption":"donald trump hillary clinton climate change","creditText":"Timothy A. 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