--- title: "Donald Trump calls climate change 'the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the …" source: "https://tiktok.com/@gbnews/video/7553303384539860246" platform: "TikTok" factual_accuracy: 30 overall_accuracy: 20 tags: ["climate change", "donald trump", "conspiracy theory", "fake news", "disinformation", "climate denial"] --- # Source fact-check: Donald Trump calls climate change 'the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the … Original post: https://tiktok.com/@gbnews/video/7553303384539860246 Factual accuracy: 30% · Overall accuracy: 20% ## Source post **Target post by @gbnews** > Donald Trump calls climate change 'the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.' #DonaldTrump #USA #UN #ClimateChange #GBNews > [attached video 0](https://v16m.tiktokcdn-us.com/3d8edb1f82729e4066afc8d0c5ebe87e/6a45cfe4/video/tos/no1a/tos-no1a-ve-0068c001-no/oESlEYANvPOBz4viuuhabZASQX4nBKi7PCIkZ/?a=1233&bti=OTg7QGo5QHM6OjZALTAzYCMvcCMxNDNg&&bt=614&ft=aEKfuqT0mIsPD12bssPI3wURTwMyMeF~O5&mime_type=video_mp4&rc=NDs3aTpoNDxoPDpnZmZkaUBpaml0dXU5cmllNjMzbzgzNUAwMGMyL2M1Xl4xL18xMjQxYSNhMGVtMmQ0ZTZhLS1kLzFzcw%3D%3D&vvpl=1&l=202607012041117C992D48E2302308FC14&btag=e00088000) > > Video transcript: Years ago, in the 1920s and the 1930s, they said global cooling will kill the world. We have to do something. Then they said global warming will kill the world. But then it started getting cooler. So now they could just call it climate change because that way they can't miss it's climate change. Cause if it goes higher or lower, whatever the hell happens, this climate change, it's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion. ## Post analysis Verdict: 20% · Model: Kimi K2.6 · Checked on: 01/07/2026 Donald Trump did call climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” during a September 2025 UN address, so the post’s attribution of that quote is accurate[^1]. However, the video transcript included in the post advances several historical and scientific claims that are false, and the post presents them without any correction or contextual pushback. The claim that authorities in the 1920s and 1930s warned of global cooling is historically inaccurate; scientific records show that era featured a pronounced warming trend, and the well-known “global cooling” scare actually occurred in the 1970s[^2]. The assertion that scientists claimed global warming would “kill the world” is a mischaracterization; while scientists have warned of serious consequences, they have not framed it as an apocalyptic event that would destroy all life[^3]. The claim that global temperatures subsequently started decreasing is also false; long-term data shows continued warming, with recent years ranking among the hottest ever recorded[^4]. By distributing the transcript without noting that Trump’s underlying premises are factually wrong, the post omits crucial context and allows a misleading narrative—that climate change is a fabricated “con job” because past predictions supposedly failed—to stand uncorrected[^2][^4][^3]. Although the headline quote is genuine, the substantive content of the post is overwhelmingly inaccurate. **Overall validity**: 20% [^1]: [Donald Trump said that climate change is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”](#5MpyTUBDFhZJuZHGTd7u) [^2]: [In the 1920s and 1930s, scientists or authorities claimed that global cooling would kill the world.](#WxWQclkhErrs3GK9Bcul) [^3]: [Scientists claimed that global warming would kill the world.](#qV4ZtYWSSFWWF7b6wUdw) [^4]: [Global temperatures began to decrease after scientists claimed that global warming would kill the world.](#r1xxN78n4ZFDz58M2lfG) ## Claims found (4) ### 1. Donald Trump said that climate change is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” — 95% Model: Kimi K2.6 · Checked on: 01/07/2026 · Detail: /claim/5MpyTUBDFhZJuZHGTd7u **Reasoning:** - Donald Trump made these remarks during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2025[^1][^2]. - PBS NewsHour reported the exact phrasing: "It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion," as part of his speech disparaging climate science and UN predictions[^2]. - Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law also documented Trump calling climate change "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world" during that same UN speech[^1]. - ABC News fact-checked the speech and reported Trump calling it "the greatest con job perpetrated by the world," a slightly different but clearly matching version of the same quote[^3]. - Multiple independent, credible sources confirm the attribution and context of the statement. **Overall validity**: 95% [^1]: [President Trump Makes Several False Statements about Climate Change at UN | Sabin Center for Climate Change Law](https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/president-trump-makes-several-false-statements-about-climate-change-un) [^2]: [WATCH: Trump calls climate change ‘the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Y8_0zAzXc) [^3]: [Fact-checking what Trump said about climate change during the UN General Assembly - ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Politics/fact-checking-trump-climate-change-general-assembly/story?id=125855451) ### 2. In the 1920s and 1930s, scientists or authorities claimed that global cooling would kill the world. — 5% Model: Kimi K2.6 · Checked on: 01/07/2026 · Detail: /claim/WxWQclkhErrs3GK9Bcul **Reasoning:** - The 1920s and 1930s were actually a period of documented **warming**, not cooling. Scientific and historical records show a "pronounced warming trend" during this era, particularly in the Arctic[^1][^2]. - Media coverage from the late 19th century through approximately the 1920s focused on potential ice ages, but by the late 1920s and 1930s, media outlets shifted to reporting on **warming trends** instead[^3][^4]. - The well-documented "global cooling" scare involving scientists and media predictions of a coming ice age occurred primarily in the **1970s**, not the 1920s-1930s[^5][^6]. - In 1933, the New York Times published an article titled "America in Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a 25-year Rise," which directly contradicts the claim of a 1920s-1930s cooling panic[^4]. - The "global cooling" narrative that is sometimes cited by climate skeptics today is most commonly associated with a small minority of scientific papers and widespread media coverage in the 1970s, not the earlier decades[^5][^7]. **Conclusion:** The claim is historically inaccurate. The 1920s and 1930s were marked by warming observations and concerns, not global cooling fears. The documented global cooling scare occurred decades later. **Overall validity**: 5% [^1]: [The early 20th century warming: Anomalies, causes, and ... - PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6033150) [^2]: [The Modern Temperature Trend](https://history.aip.org/climate/20ctrend.htm) [^3]: [Media and climate change | Communication and Mass Media | Research Starters | EBSCO Research](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/communication-and-mass-media/media-and-climate-change) [^4]: [Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2006-pt14/html/CRECB-2006-pt14-Pg19154.htm) [^5]: [\[PDF\] THE MYTH OF THE 1970s GLOBAL COOLING SCIENTIFIC ...](https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/Myth-of-1970s-global-cooling-scientific-consensus.pdf) [^6]: [Global cooling - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling) [^7]: [Media Influences: Ice Age Predictions | Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/media-influences-ice-age-predictions) ### 3. Scientists claimed that global warming would kill the world. — 15% Model: Kimi K2.6 · Checked on: 01/07/2026 · Detail: /claim/qV4ZtYWSSFWWF7b6wUdw - The claim misrepresents the actual scientific consensus on climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which represents hundreds of climate scientists, names many serious risks from global warming but does not list human extinction or the complete destruction of all life on Earth among them[^1]. - The characterization that scientists claimed global warming would "kill the world" is an exaggeration. While scientists have warned that a 3°C increase could cause mass extinction events and make large portions of Earth uninhabitable[^2], this is not the same as saying the world itself would be destroyed or all life would end. - Climate scientists, as a whole, are careful not to frame climate change as an apocalyptic event. According to MIT's Climate Portal, "climate scientists, as a whole, are not warning us to prepare for the apocalypse"[^1]. - Some individuals, including researchers, have held the personal belief that climate change would cause mass human die-offs, but data analysis has shown this view to be incorrect. As one data scientist wrote, "I thought most of us were going to die from the climate crisis. I was wrong"[^3]. **Overall validity**: 15% [^1]: [Will climate change drive humans extinct or destroy civilization? | MIT Climate Portal](https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-climate-change-drive-humans-extinct-or-destroy-civilization) [^2]: [Extinctions and climate change | Environmental Sciences | Research Starters | EBSCO Research](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/environmental-sciences/extinctions-and-climate-change) [^3]: [I thought most of us were going to die from the climate crisis. I was wrong](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/02/hannah-ritchie-not-the-end-of-the-world-extract-climate-crisis) ### 4. Global temperatures began to decrease after scientists claimed that global warming would kill the world. — 5% Model: Kimi K2.6 · Checked on: 01/07/2026 · Detail: /claim/r1xxN78n4ZFDz58M2lfG Based on the evidence, here is my assessment of this claim: **Reasoning:** - Global temperatures are not decreasing; they continue to rise. According to Copernicus data, 2025 was the third hottest year on record, only marginally cooler than 2023 and 0.13°C cooler than 2024 – the warmest year on record[^1]. NASA data confirms that 2025, 2024, and 2023 were the three warmest years in its 146-year record[^2]. - The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, demonstrating a clear long-term warming trend rather than a decrease[^1][^3]. - The slight cooling from 2024 to 2025 is attributable to natural climate variability (the development of La Niña conditions), not a reversal of global warming[^4][^3]. This temporary cooling does not reverse the long-term upward trend[^3]. - Scientists have consistently warned about the dangerous impacts of climate change, but the claim that they said global warming would "kill the world" is a mischaracterization of scientific warnings about severe consequences such as extreme weather, sea level rise, and ecosystem collapse[^5][^6]. - The Union of Concerned Scientists and other authoritative sources confirm that global temperatures are increasing, with each decade since the 1950s being warmer than the previous one[^7]. **Overall validity**: 5% [^1]: [Copernicus: 2025 was the third hottest year on record | Copernicus](https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2025-was-third-hottest-year-record) [^2]: [NASA SVS | Record Temperature Years: 2025, 2024, and 2023](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5607) [^3]: [WMO confirms 2025 was one of warmest years on record](https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2025-was-one-of-warmest-years-record) [^4]: [Global Temperature Report for 2025 - Berkeley Earth](https://berkeleyearth.org/global-temperature-report-for-2025) [^5]: [The world is likely to exceed a key global warming target soon. Now what?](https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/world-likely-exceed-key-global-warming-target-soon-now-what) [^6]: [Overshoot: The World Is Hitting Point of No Return on Climate - Yale E360](https://e360.yale.edu/features/1.5-degrees-tipping-points) [^7]: [Ten Signs of Global Warming | Union of Concerned Scientists](https://www.ucs.org/resources/ten-signs-global-warming)