said Austrians live in “forest cities” with “more explosive trees”?

During a Fox and Friends interview on September 15, 2020, Trump claimed that many nations, like Austria, had “forest cities” and had more “explosive” trees than the American West Coast, which was suffering from widespread forest fires.

Well look, Brian, you have forests all over the world. You don’t have fires like you do in California, you know. In Europe, they have forest cities. You look at — you look at countries — Austria. You look at so many countries, they live in the forest. They’re considered forest cities — so many of them.

And they don’t have fires like this and they have more explosive trees. They have trees that will catch easier. But they maintain their fire. They have an expression, they thin the fuel. The fuel is what’s on the ground — the leaves.

In response, an Austrian minister of agriculture made a statement correcting Trump, and emphasizing how the country lives “in a close, sustainable relationship with the natural environment.”

San Francisco’s red sky during the wildfires. Brittany Hosea-Small / AFP

Trump previously suggested “raking and cleaning and doing things” to prevent forest fires and threatened to deny federal emergency funds for assistance. He also called climate change a Chinese hoax, and said he doesn’t think “science knows” while visiting California during the wildfires.

Snopes – Did Trump Say Wildfires Are Caused by Exploding Trees?
The Washington Post – Austrian minister to Trump: No, we do not live in forests
Independent – Austrian minister to Trump: No, we do not live in forests

said science doesn’t know about climate change and that “it’ll get cooler, just you watch”?

Amid wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington that claimed dozens of lives, Trump visited the governor of California on September 14, 2020.

While being briefed on the fires, which left 10% of Oregon’s population under an evacuation order, Trump shrugged off concerns about climate change, saying instead that it would get cooler.

CROWFOOT: …I think we want to work with you to really recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forests and actually work together with that science, that science is going to be key, because if we ignore that science and put our head in the sand and think it’s all about vegetation management, we’re not going to succeed together protecting Californians.

TRUMP: Okay. It’ll start getting cooler.

CROWFOOT: I wish-

TRUMP: You just watch.

CROWFOOT: I wish science agreed with you.

TRUMP: Well, I don’t think science knows, actually. Tom, please.

The Defense Department long produced annual reports on climate change, acknowledging it as a national threat. The 2019 report specifically notes that “climatic factors including increased wind and drought can lead to an increased severity of wildfire activity.”

San Francisco’s red sky during the wildfires. Brittany Hosea-Small / AFP

The year prior to the exchange, threatened to withhold federal emergency funding from California because its Democrat governor was following “what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him.” Trump has rejected climate change repeatedly, referring to it as a “Chinese hoax.”

Associated Press – Trump spurns science on climate: ‘Don’t think science knows’
The New York Times – As Trump Again Rejects Science, Biden Calls Him a ‘Climate Arsonist’
NPR – ‘I Don’t Think Science Knows’: Visiting Fires, Trump Denies Climate Change
US Department of Defense – Report on Effects of a Changing Climate to the Department of Defense, January 2019

wanted to increase water flow in showers because his hair “has to be perfect”?

The Department of Energy proposed an amendment to regulations on water fixtures. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1992 declared a maximum water threshold for showerheads of 2.5 gallons per minute

Trump previously complained about low flow toilets that require one to flush “10 to 15 times,” directing the EPA to investigate.

Market Watch – Trump wants ‘perfect’ hair from stronger water flow in the shower — his Energy Department delivers 
Miami Herald – Trump wants better water flow in his shower. Here’s what that means for you

thought “clean coal” was physically cleaned by miners?

At a 2017 Phoenix rally, Trump championed “clean coal,” though he seemed unclear as to what it was.

We’ve ended the war on beautiful, clean coal, and it’s just been announced that a second brand new coal mine where they’re going to take out clean coal – meaning they’re taking out coal, they’re going to clean it – is opening in the state of Pennsylvania.

“Clean coal” has nothing to do with the mining and extraction process. It refers to various complex technologies used to mitigate the carbon emissions that arise from burning coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels. Championing coal was a core component of Trump’s 2016 campaign.

President Donald Trump holds up a Trump Digs Coal sign as he arrives to speak during a Make America Great Again Rally at Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia in August.
Trump at a rally in West Virginia. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images

Because of the cost associated with developing and implementing such technologies, the term “clean coal” has been derided by critics as a fabrication. The Sierra Club has long maintained that “clean coal” is an oxymoron, and that there is no way to “clean” coal to any substantive degree that would be superior to alternative forms of energy.

Despite being a climate change denier, in 2017, the CEO of the United States’ largest coal company agreed.

Murray Energy Corp. CEO Robert Murray explained, “Carbon capture and sequestration does not work. It’s a pseudonym for ‘no coal.’ It is neither practical nor economic, carbon capture and sequestration. It is just cover for the politicians, both Republicans and Democrats that say, ‘Look what I did for coal,’ knowing all the time that it doesn’t help coal at all.”

Live Science – Trump Touts ‘Clean Coal’: What Is It, Really?
Sierra Club – There’s nothing clean about coal and nothing funny about its impacts
E&E News – Pruitt will launch program to ‘critique’ climate science
Wikipedia – Coal pollution mitigation

said the Pope would wish Trump were President when ISIS attacks the Vatican?

During a visit to Mexico, Pope Francis said in 2016 of Trump,

A person who thinks only about building walls, where they may be, not not building bridges, is not a Christian. This is not in the gospel. As far as what you said about whether to vote or not vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I only say that this man is not a Christian if he has said things like that.

In a retort, Trump said that the Pope was being manipulated by the Mexican government. He replied at a rally,

If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened.

Trump has repeatedly referred to himself as a Christian, though he was unable to recite a single verse from the Bible. He also had fairly positive views of Pope Francis upon the pope’s election.

In another tweet, Trump linked the humbleness of the Pope to his own. Trump also bragged about his own humility during the 2016 campaign.

Pope Francis’ views of Trump continued to be more mixed.

Trump visits the Pope at the Vatican, May 24, 2017. EVAN VUCCI/AFP/Getty Images

During a 2017 visit to the Vatican that was described as “stiff,” Pope Francis gifted Trump with copies of his writings, including an encyclical on climate change. Trump has derided climate change as a Chinese hoax.

Pope Francis also criticized Trump’s border and family separation policy, comparing it to the Berlin Wall.

It falls into the greatest cruelty. To defend what? The territory, or the economy of the country, or who knows what? We already know one wall, the Berlin Wall that brought us enough headaches and enough suffering…. But it seems that man does what animals do not do, doesn’t it? Man is the only animal that falls twice into the same hole.

On Trump’s move to repeal DACA, the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Pope Francis said,

The president of the United States presents himself as pro-life and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected.

The Hill – Pope Francis appears to knock Trump with appeal to build bridges instead of walls
NPR – ‘He Is Something’: Trump Visits Pope Francis At The Vatican
America Magazine – Pope Francis calls Trump’s border policy ‘cruel,’ compares southern barriers to Berlin Wall
CNN – Pope Francis says rescinding DACA is not ‘pro-life’

rolled back Obama-era fuel economy rules?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump finalized changes to Obama-era automobile emission rules. Whereas automakers were to increase fuel economy by an average of 5% per year through 2026, it was changed to 1.5%. The Trump administration noted that the change would be the equivalent of 2 billion additional barrels of oil consumed and nearly a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Verge – Trump rolls back Obama fuel economy rule, increasing emissions during a climate crisis
Reuters – Trump finalizes rollback of Obama-era vehicle fuel efficiency standards
The Hill – The pandemic hasn’t stopped Trump’s rollback of Clean Car Standards

suggesting nuking hurricanes?

In advance of Hurricane Dorian, a White House source to Axios claimed that Trump said, “I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” The source said that everyone present was shocked by the suggestion.

Trump immediately called the report fake news, even though a senior White House official defended his suggestion by saying, “His goal — to keep a catastrophic hurricane from hitting the mainland — is not bad. His objective is not bad.”

Trump went on to suggest he’d not even heard of Axios, the outlet that broke the story, despite having had multiple interviews with them and tweeting their stories in the past.

Trump also altered a map of the hurricane’s path with a Sharpie after incorrectly claiming that it would affect Alabama.

Axios – Scoop: Trump suggested nuking hurricanes to stop them from hitting U.S.
Wired – While You Were Offline: Could a Nuclear Bomb Stop a Hurricane?
Time – President Trump Denies Wanting to Nuke Hurricanes to Stop Them From Hitting the U.S.
USA Today – You can’t nuke a hurricane to stop it, as Trump reportedly suggested. Here’s why

altered a hurricane map with a Sharpie?

In an August, 2019 briefing on the approaching Hurricane Dorian, Trump claimed that Alabama would be affected:

And, I will say, the states — and it may get a little piece of a great place: It’s called Alabama.  And Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds and something more than that, it could be.  This just came up, unfortunately.  It’s the size of — the storm that we’re talking about.  So, for Alabama, just please be careful also.

The National Weather Service tweeted that this was in fact not the case. While 5 states declared national emergencies in advance of the hurricane, Alabama was not among them.

After multiple days of tweeting about how he was right, Trump displayed a hurricane map that appeared to be altered by Sharpie to extend the path into Alabama. It quickly became termed “Sharpiegate.”

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

When questioned about this, Trump claimed he knew nothing about it.

Two days later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency within the Department of Commerce, issued an unsigned statement siding with Trump’s claims about Alabama. Shortly after, the New York Times reported that US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, had threatened the head of the NOAA with firings unless they publicly supported Trump’s claims.

In June, 2020, the Department of Commerce’s inspector general released a report on the issue. It confirmed that “the Department and NOAA issued the Statement in response to a request by the White House then-acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.”

The inspector general’s report further concluded that “the Statement undercut the NWS’s forecasts and potentially undercut public trust in NOAA’s and the NWS’s science and the apolitical nature of that science.”

A separate report by the National Academy of Public Administration found that NOAA’s scientific integrity had been compromised “intentionally, knowingly, or in reckless disregard.”

Trump also previously suggested stopping hurricanes with nuclear weapons.

Whitehouse.gov – Remarks by President Trump in Briefing on Hurricane Dorian
The New York Times – Trump Insists He Was Right About Hurricane Dorian Heading for Alabama
The Atlantic – Trump’s Most Pointless Lie
The Washington Post – Investigation rebukes Commerce Department for siding with Trump over forecasters during Hurricane Dorian
The Washington Post – NOAA leaders violated agency’s scientific integrity policy, Hurricane Dorian ‘Sharpiegate’ investigation finds
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Statement from NOAA, September 6, 2019
U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General – Evaluation of NOAA’s September 6, 2019, Statement About Hurricane Dorian Forecasts
A Report by a Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration – An Independent Assessment of Allegations of Scientific Misconduct
Wikipedia – Hurricane Dorian–Alabama controversy

rolled back regulations on coal pollution?

The Trump administration rolled back one of the most comprehensive Obama-era regulations with the hope of reviving the flailing coal industry. It erased regulations that required each state to meet certain carbon emission targets, and eased the environmental requires on waste from coal and fossil power plants. It also removed requirements for existing plants to upgrade to more efficient systems. The regulations were first instituted in response to a 2008 disaster in which over a billion gallons of waste from a coal ash pond flooded a Tennessee town, and another 2014 spill in North Carolina had millions of gallons pour into a river.

Trump, who has called climate change a “Chinese hoax,” has also overseen the rollback of protections for endangered species and regulations for offshore rigs.

New York Times – E.P.A. to Roll Back Rules to Control Toxic Ash from Coal Plant
Politico – Trump rolls back Obama’s biggest climate rule
US News & World Report – EPA Moves to Rollback Coal Power Plant Waste Rules
Market Watch – Trump administration rolls back Obama-era regulations on coal pollution

weakened protections for endangered species?

The Endangered Species Act has had broad partisan support since being instituted in 1973. It has been credited with saving the bald eagle and grizzly bears, and continues to protect some 1600 species. The UN has determined that some 1 million plant and animal species are endangered.

The Trump administration’s changes to the Endangered Species Act include allowing consideration for economic factors, will no longer offer the same protections to “threatened” species as it does “endangered,” and removes any uniform interpretation of what risks species face in the foreseeable future.

His administration has rolled back several other regulations, including for offshore rigs and coal pollution.

NPR – 1 Million Animal And Plant Species Are At Risk Of Extinction, U.N. Report Says
NPR – Trump Administration Makes Major Changes To Protections For Endangered Species
The New York Times – Trump Administration Makes Major Changes To Protections For Endangered Species
Time – The Trump Administration’s Changes to the Endangered Species Act Risks Pushing More Species to Extinction

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