A comprehensive analysis of thousands of social media posts by former President Donald Trump, conducted by our team at the Climate Data Lab, has uncovered a systematic and dangerous pattern of climate misinformation. The study, which examined over 10,000 posts from 2015 to 2022, reveals a coordinated effort to undermine climate science and delay action, with potentially catastrophic consequences for global warming mitigation.
The data shows that Trump's climate-related posts fall into four distinct categories: denial of warming (35 per cent), attacks on climate scientists (28 per cent), promotion of fossil fuels (22 per cent), and mockery of renewable energy (15 per cent). The most frequent claim, appearing in 40 per cent of posts, is that “global warming is a hoax” or that “climate change is not real,” despite 99.9 per cent of peer-reviewed scientific studies confirming anthropogenic warming.
Dr. Elena Ramirez, lead researcher at the lab, described the pattern as “a deliberate assault on evidence-based policy.” She noted that Trump’s posts often target specific events, such as cold snaps, to falsely argue against long-term warming trends. “This is a classic fallacy: conflating weather with climate. It’s like denying that summer is hotter than winter because you felt a cool breeze one afternoon,” she said.
The analysis also reveals a disturbingly effective reach. Trump’s climate-denial posts generated an average of 2.5 million interactions each, with the most viral accumulating over 20 million engagements. The timing of these posts correlates with key policy moments, such as the Paris Agreement withdrawal announcement in 2017 and the rollback of emissions standards in 2019.
This disinformation has real-world impacts. A 2022 study in Nature found that exposure to climate denial content reduces belief in climate science by up to 10 percentage points and decreases support for clean energy policies. Given Trump’s influence, especially among Republican voters, the psychological cost is immense.
The situation is made worse by algorithmic amplification. Twitter’s (now X) recommendation system, during Trump’s tenure, prioritized his posts, leading to a feedback loop of misinformation. Even after his account was suspended, archived copies continue to circulate.
We must address this head-on. Social media platforms need to enforce content moderation consistently, regardless of political affiliation. Public figures wielding such influence have a responsibility to base their statements on facts. As Dr. Vance puts it, “We cannot afford to treat the planet’s life support systems as a debating point. The laws of physics do not care about rhetoric.”
The cost of inaction is rising. With each day of delay, the window to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius narrows. We cannot afford to let disinformation drive us off a cliff.
