President Donald Trump celebrated what he called a “major win” after Bill Gates backed away from years of alarmist rhetoric on climate change. Gates’ unexpected comments this week sent shockwaves through the environmental community and were quickly seized on by Trump as proof that the “climate change hoax” has finally collapsed.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax. Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue. It took courage to do so, and for that we are all grateful. MAGA!!!”
The president’s statement came just one day after Gates published a memo admitting that the catastrophic predictions pushed by climate activists were exaggerated.
“There’s a doomsday view of climate change that goes like this: In a few decades, cataclysmic climate change will decimate civilization,” Gates wrote. “Fortunately for all of us, this view is wrong.”
For years, Gates had been one of the loudest voices warning about the dangers of global warming. He funded research into experimental geoengineering projects and promoted sweeping changes to food production, energy use, and industrial development. His new comments, however, appear to reject the idea that humanity is facing an immediate crisis.
Trump, who has long called climate policy a “scam,” was quick to highlight Gates’ reversal. During a speech before the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
Gates did not abandon his entire position on climate policy but shifted tone dramatically. In his message, released ahead of the United Nations COP30 climate summit, he urged world leaders to focus on practical and affordable strategies rather than costly global mandates.
“So I urge that community, at COP30 and beyond, to make a strategic pivot: prioritize the things that have the greatest impact on human welfare,” Gates wrote. “Unfortunately, the doomsday outlook is causing much of the climate community to focus too much on near-term emissions goals, and it’s diverting resources from the most effective things we should be doing to improve life in a warming world.”
Gates’ new stance aligns more closely with what Trump has argued for years — that energy policy should focus on affordability, reliability, and innovation rather than fear-based restrictions.
His comments also come at a time when many environmental initiatives are facing backlash for driving up energy costs and forcing reliance on unstable renewable systems. Several experts said Gates’ words represent a rare moment of honesty from someone once seen as a leader in the climate movement.
A Department of Energy official also weighed in. Secretary Chris Wright thanked both Trump and Gates for “helping bring the conversation back to common sense.”
Wright, who has long argued that energy poverty is a greater threat to humanity than rising temperatures, praised the move as an opportunity to restore balance to the debate.
He said that focusing on real-world innovation, rather than panic-driven emissions targets, could save lives and lift millions out of poverty — a view Trump’s administration has consistently supported.
The Gates memo comes at a politically sensitive moment, just weeks before global climate delegates gather in Brazil for COP30. His rejection of “doomsday” climate narratives has already drawn criticism from activists who accuse him of caving to public pressure and corporate interests.
Still, for Trump and his supporters, the timing could not be better. After years of warnings about global catastrophe, one of the left’s most powerful voices has now publicly agreed that the world is not on the brink of collapse.
To many Americans who have watched politicians push sweeping climate laws that threaten jobs and raise energy prices, the moment felt like vindication. Trump called it “a victory for truth — and for common sense.”