Trump skips meeting with world leaders on climate change — then lies about it

Trump was the only G-7 leader to skip the meeting at the conference about climate change, and then he lied about it to reporters.

“When U.S. reporters were ushered into the working session on climate, biodiversity and oceans taking place at the G-7 they saw an empty chair where Trump usually sits. The rest of the G-7 leaders were present,” USA Today reported on Monday.

Later in the day, Trump was asked by reporters about his absence.

“We’re having it in a little while,” he told them, but by then the meeting had already taken place.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham lied to reporters when asked about Trump skipping the meeting.

“The President had scheduled meetings and bilaterals with Germany and India, so a senior member of the Administration attended in his stead,” she claimed.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi both managed to attend the meeting, while Trump did not.

In fact, Prime Minister Modi tweeted about the meeting and discussed his address to the panel, writing that he “Highlighted India’s large scale efforts towards eliminating single use plastic, conserving water, harnessing solar energy and, protecting flora and fauna for a sustainable future.”

The assembled world leaders discussed key environmental issues facing the planet, including the ongoing devastating fires in the Amazon. Leaders pledged $20 million to fight the environmental devastation.

Before the meeting, members of the Trump team reportedly complained that the conference was set to focus on what they termed as “niche issues” like climate change.

Senior White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow complained in a Wall Street Journal op-ed of “politically correct bromides,” at the impending meeting and said the Trump team preferred an economic focus to the meeting.

Meanwhile, the global climate crisis has been worsening.

July 2019 was the hottest month in recorded history.

“Much of the planet sweltered in unprecedented heat in July, as temperatures soared to new heights in the hottest month ever recorded. The record warmth also shrank Arctic and Antarctic sea ice to historic lows,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noted a few weeks ago.

Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord and has been spending the last two-plus years installing climate change denialists in his administration while working to undermine climate science.

Not attending a meeting of world leaders on the issue and lying about it makes clear where Trump stands on one of the biggest issues facing human survival.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.