--- title: Does Donald Trump Still Think Climate Change is a Hoax? description: As a private citizen, Donald Trump didn't mince words: Climate change was a hoax. But as president, he's gone silent on the question. canonical: https://time.com/4959233/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax-question/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-27T16:19:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:53:56.022Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Won't Say If He Still Thinks Climate Change Is a Hoax. Here's Why og:description: He's gone silent on the question since moving to the White House og:url: https://time.com/4959233/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax-question/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6476c68c80017990/6988d004196cf4037104069e/trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: President Trump To Order Withdrawal From Paris Climate Accord og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Won't Say If He Still Thinks Climate Change Is a Hoax. Here's Why twitter:description: He's gone silent on the question since moving to the White House twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6476c68c80017990/6988d004196cf4037104069e/trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Won't Say If He Still Thinks Climate Change Is a Hoax. 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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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0f45d6c9-fcdb-40b4-8b8d-9e91cfad77b1&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mia6Tcb8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-26. The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Sep 27, 2017 4:19 PM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Sep 27, 2017 4:19 PM UTC As a private citizen, Donald Trump didn’t mince words: Climate change was a hoax. Since 2011, the New York real estate mogul tweeted his skepticism of climate change at least 115 times, according to [a count by Vox](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/1/15726472/trump-tweets-global-warming-paris-climate-agreement), including multiple times when he referred to it as a hoax. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/408977616926830592) On the campaign trail before the 2016 election, he was just as clear. “So Obama’s talking about all of this with the global warming and the—a lot of it’s a hoax, it’s a hoax,” he said in [a December 2015 speech](http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article55604115.html) in South Carolina. I mean, it’s a money-making industry, okay? It’s a hoax, a lot of it.” But since he moved into the White House, Trump has gone silent on this specific charge. Even at his press conference announcing he would pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, Trump never said that climate change was not real, instead arguing that the deal was bad for Americans and wouldn’t do enough to help the environment. “Not only does this deal subject our citizens to harsh economic restrictions, it fails to live up to our environmental ideals,” [he said](http://www.npr.org/2017/06/01/531090243/trumps-speech-on-paris-climate-agreement-withdrawal-annotated). “As someone who cares deeply about the environment, which I do, I cannot in good conscience support a deal that punishes the United States.” So what happened? The answer may have something to do with a Supreme Court case which found that the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change are covered by the Clean Air Act. Watch the video to learn more. ## Transcript As a candidate Donald Trump had no problem giving his opinion about climate change. So Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming, and a lot of it's a hoax, it's a hoax, I mean it's a money making industry okay . >> But as president he won't say what he things and neither will his administration. The president himself during the campaign called climate change a hoax. Have you had that conversation with him? I have not had that conversation with him. He no longer believes what he tweeted during the course of the campaign in years earlier, that it's a hoax? Look, you're gonna have to ask him. I'll ask it one more time. Does he believe global warming's a hoax? Does he believe- You should ask him that. When asked their own opinions, other members of the Trump administration generally agree the climate is changing and humans may play a role. Climate is changing, it always has. Man at this particular point in time is having an effect on it, how much effect is what's at debate here. So why is Trump himself so cagey? Part of it is political, polls show the majority of Americans believe global warming is real and is caused by human activities. Part of it personal, Trump does not like to admit he was wrong about an issue in the past As can be seen from his brief and begrudging admission this his crusade over President Obama's birth certificate was mistaken. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. But there's a legal reason too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the greenhouse gases, which cause climate change Are a form of pollution that endanger human health and wellbeing. And thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, that means the EPA must act on those findings. If the Trump Administration were to say climate change isn't real it would be open to lawsuits from environmentalists for not acting on its own EPA findings. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is careful to say that it's real in some form. I indicated That in fact global warming is occurring. That human activity contributes to it in some manner. That doesn't mean the EPA has to keep the Obama administration's plans in place. In fact members of the Trump adminstration have been steadily rolling back regulations designed to fight climate change. They just can't say they're doing that. Because climate change isn't real. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4959233/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax-question/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4959233/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax-question/"},"headline":"President Trump Won't Say If He Still Thinks Climate Change Is a Hoax. Here's Why","datePublished":"2017-09-27T16:19:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:53:56.022Z","description":"As a private citizen, Donald Trump didn't mince words: Climate change was a hoax. 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