Trump slams climate science at UNGA, calls it “greatest con job ever”; attacks renewable energy, migration policies

NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump launched a sharp critique of climate science during his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), terming climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and dismissing global efforts to tackle it as misguided.

While several world leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, used their speeches to call for urgent climate action, Trump’s remarks took a markedly different tone.

Addressing the gathering, Trump described climate change as a “fake energy catastrophe” and criticised what he called a growing dependence on renewable energy sources. He asserted that the concept of a carbon footprint was a hoax and accused unnamed groups of having “evil intentions” in pushing environmental agendas.

This speech from Donald Trump at the UN will go down in history.. pic.twitter.com/nWDOblHyxP

— Climate Realists (@ClimateRealists) September 23, 2025

“The carbon footprint is a hoax, made up by people with evil intentions, and they’re heading down a path of total destruction,” Trump said, in a speech that lasted more than 45 minutes–almost three times the UN’s suggested 15-minute limit for world leaders.

Amid his remarks on climate policy, Trump also announced that Washington would lead a global initiative to prevent the development of biological weapons. He said the United States would introduce an AI-driven verification system as part of this initiative and call on other nations to join. “I’m … calling on every nation to join us in ending the development of biological weapons once and for all,” he said. “Hopefully, the UN can play a constructive role.”

The President then launched a lengthy tirade against renewable energy, dismissing clean energy policies as wasteful and ineffective. Besides calling climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” Trump mocked renewables as a costly failure. “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,” Trump said, criticising European countries including Germany, Greece, and Switzerland for their investments in renewables.

In a continuation of his hardline rhetoric, Trump also took aim at migration policies adopted by several countries. He accused them of participating in what he described as an “open borders experiment,” even though most of these nations have established restrictive immigration frameworks.

“Your countries are going to hell. In America, we’ve taken bold action to swiftly shut down uncontrolled migration once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States, they simply stopped coming,” he said.

He also pointed to US military operations against drug trafficking in the Caribbean, which rights groups have labelled extrajudicial killings. “To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” Trump warned.

Despite the harsh tone of much of his speech, Trump said he and Lula “embraced” when they met at the UN headquarters and agreed to hold talks next week. He added that Lula “seemed like a ‘nice’ guy.” However, he reiterated his strong opposition to Brazil’s judicial actions against former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Trump. Bolsonaro was recently sentenced to over 27 years in prison for attempting to overturn the country’s democratic process.

Trump condemned the proceedings as politically motivated and described the conviction as a “witch hunt.” He confirmed that his administration had imposed tariffs on Brazil and sanctioned multiple judicial officials in response. By the end, Trump’s remarks had stretched to 55 minutes, far exceeding the UN’s 15-minute guideline. He closed by reiterating what he called the two biggest issues facing the world.

“In closing, I just want to repeat that immigration and the high cost of so-called green renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet,” he said. “Countries that cherish freedom are fading fast because of their policies on these two subjects”. “You need strong borders and traditional energy sources if you are going to be great again, whether you have come from north or south, east or west, near or far,” he added.

At one point in the speech, Trump mentioned his aspiration to win a Nobel Peace Prize, saying he hoped to be recognised for his efforts on the global stage. He concluded his address with an appeal to world leaders to safeguard their national cultures, traditions, and identities.

“So together, let us uphold our sacred duty to our people and to our citizens. Let us protect their borders, ensure their safety, preserve their cultures, treasure their traditions and fight, fight, fight for their precious dreams and their cherished freedom,” Trump said.

“It will happen, and I hope it can happen and start right now, right at this moment, we’ll turn it around to make our countries better, safer, more beautiful”, he concluded. (ANI)