presidential town hall, Donald Trump said, “When I hear Obama get up and say the biggest threat to the world today is global warming, I say, is this guy kidding? The only global warming - the only global warming I'm worried about is nuclear global warming because that's the single biggest threat. So it's not that I'm a fan - we can't afford it anymore. We're sitting on a tremendous bubble. We're going to be - again, $21 trillion. We don't have money.” [CNN, 3/29/16] Trump: “I Am Not A Great Believer In Man-Made Climate Change … I Think Our Biggest Form Of Climate Change We Should Worry About Is Nuclear Weapons.” On March 21, 2016, Donald Trump met with the editorial board of the Washington Post. During the meeting, he had the following exchange with Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt and editorial writer Stephen Stromberg: HIATT: You think climate change is a real thing? Is there human-caused climate change? TRUMP: I think there’s a change in weather. I am not a great believer in man-made climate change. I’m not a great believer. There is certainly a change in weather that goes – if you look, they had global cooling in the 1920s and now they have global warming, although now they don’t know if they have global warming. They call it all sorts of different things; now they’re using “extreme weather” I guess more than any other phrase. I am not – I know it hurts me with this room, and I know it’s probably a killer with this room – but I am not a believer. Perhaps there’s a minor effect, but I’m not a big believer in man-made climate change. STROMBERG: Don’t good businessmen hedge against risks, not ignore them? TRUMP: Well I just think we have much bigger risks. I mean I think we have militarily tremendous risks. I think we’re in tremendous peril. I think our biggest form of climate change we should worry about is nuclear weapons. The biggest risk to the world, to me – I know President Obama thought it was climate change – to me the biggest risk is nuclear weapons. That’s – that is climate change. That is a disaster, and we don’t even know where the nuclear weapons are right now. We don’t know who has them. We don’t know who’s trying to get them. The biggest risk for this world and this country is nuclear weapons, the power of nuclear weapons. [Washington Post, 3/21/16] Trump: Climate Change Is A Hoax, And A “Money-Making Industry.” During a December 30, 2015 campaign rally in Hilton Head, SC, Trump said, “So Obama is talking about all of this with the global warming and … a lot of it is a hoax. It’s a hoax. I mean, it’s a money making industry, okay? It’s a hoax.” [News Universe, 12/30/15 (35:18)] Trump: “It’s Really Cold Outside … We Could Use A Big Fat Dose Of Global Warming!” On October 19, 2015, Trump tweeted, “It's really cold outside, they are calling it a major freeze, weeks ahead of normal. Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!” [Donald Trump Twitter, 10/19/15] Wall Street Journal Headline: “Donald Trump: I Don’t Believe In Climate Change.” [Wall Street Journal, 9/24/15] Asked Whether He Agreed With Pope Francis’s Call To Act On Climate Change, Trump Said No; “I Am Not A Believer In Climate Change.” In September 2015, Politico reported, “Donald Trump is at odds with Pope Francis when it comes to climate change. In his White House address … the pope called climate change ‘a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation.’ Asked whether he agreed with that on CNN's ‘New Day,’ Trump said no. ‘I think that clean air is a pressing problem. You want to have clean air, clean water. That's very important to me, and I've won many environmental awards. I am not a believer in climate change,’ Trump said.” [Politico, 9/24/15] Politico Headline: “Trump: Pope Is Wrong On Climate Change.” [Politico, 9/24/15] Trump Said He Would “Actually Talk” With Pope Francis And “See If He’s Serious” About Climate Change. In September 2015, CNN reported, “If Donald Trump found himself in a private meeting with the Pope … the Republican businessman would want to talk climate change. ‘He seems to be getting extremely political,’ Trump said of Pope 3
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