{"slug": "trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax", "title": "Trump Compares AI Warnings to Past Climate Fears He Wrongly Says Were a “Hoax”", "summary": "President Donald Trump dismissed concerns about artificial intelligence in a Truth Social post, comparing AI warnings to what he called the \"hoax\" of the climate crisis and falsely claiming \"nobody was dead\" from climate change. Trump's post came a week after reports that the U.S. military nearly started a war with China after relying on false AI-generated intelligence, and after August 2026 tied for the hottest month on record. A Lancet Countdown report authored by 128 experts from 71 academic institutions found 546,000 deaths from heat exposure on average each year over the past decade, while GermanWatch's Climate Risk Index reports more than 832,000 lives lost from over 9,700 extreme weather events between 1995 and 2024.", "body_md": "*Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a* *quick donation* *to Truthout today!* \n\nPresident Donald Trump has dismissed legitimate concerns about the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), comparing them to the “hoax” of the climate crisis.\n\n“The same people that said, ‘We’ll all be dead in twelve years because of Global Warming’ … are the people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us, that robots are going to attack us, and everything is a DISASTER,” [Trump wrote](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117309814170246776) in a Truth Social post. \n\nThe president’s comments came a week after reports about the U.S. military [nearly starting a war with China](https://truthout.org/articles/report-ai-generated-intel-nearly-sparked-us-war-with-china/) after relying on false information from AI, and after the world experienced [its hottest month on record](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/august-2026-ties-for-hottest-month-ever-recorded/) in August. \n\n[Trump also claimed](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117309814170246776) that “nobody was dead” due to climate change, and compared AI concerns to the investigation into election interference by Russia during his first term in office, and his impeachment over withholding aid from Ukraine in order to get political “dirt” on Joe Biden, [wrongly describing both of those situations as “a Hoax.”](https://truthout.org/articles/describing-himself-as-a-hoax-buster-trump-dismisses-legitimate-ai-concerns/)\n\nIn dismissing worries over the expansion of AI — which tech experts and developers themselves have said [should be slowed down](https://truthout.org/articles/trump-claims-the-only-ai-guardrail-needed-is-himself/) until proper safeguards are instituted — Trump made a false claim about the climate crisis: that no one has died from it.\n\nIn fact, millions of people around the world have lost their lives due to its impacts.\n\n[According to a Lancet Countdown report published last fall](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/climate-change-is-here-and-its-killing-millions/), which was authored by 128 experts from 71 different academic institutions, 546,000 deaths have occurred from heat exposure on average each year over the past decade. It also found that 84 percent of heatwave days in the past five years of data wouldn’t have happened without the effects of the climate crisis, and that droughts induced by the climate crisis have also led to 123.7 million more people experiencing food insecurity around the world than observed between 1981 and 2010. \n\n“We’re seeing millions of deaths that are occurring needlessly every year because of our persistent fossil fuel dependence, because of our delay in mitigating climate change, and our delays in adaptation to the climate change that cannot be avoided,” [said Marina Romanello](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/climate-change-is-here-and-its-killing-millions/), executive director of the Lancet Countdown at University College London. \n\nExtreme weather events, which are becoming more numerous and severe due to climate change, have caused at least hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past 20 years.\n\n“From 1995 to 2024, more than 832,000 lives were lost … driven by more than 9,700 extreme weather events,” [reads an explainer from GermanWatch’s Climate Risk Index](https://www.germanwatch.org/en/cri). “The frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters continue to rise, and these figures underscore the urgent need for climate action.”\n\nA University of Wisconsin-Madison study published in 2022 found that [eliminating air pollution from energy-related activities could reduce premature deaths in the U.S. by more than 53,000 annually](https://truthout.org/articles/eliminating-air-pollution-could-save-more-than-53000-lives-per-year-study-says/). Put another way, by ending the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and shifting to renewable energy sources, the U.S. could save a number of lives nearly equivalent to the population of Madison every five years. \n\nAI data centers will also worsen the climate crisis.\n\n[According to a 2015 analysis from Cornell University researchers](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/11/roadmap-shows-environmental-impact-ai-data-center-boom), by 2030, the current rate of AI growth will add 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year. That amount is equal to 5 to 10 million cars added to U.S. roads annually. Water usage to cool these data centers would also equal the annual household usage of 6 to 10 million Americans per year. \n\n##### 25 Years of Truthout: An important fundraising appeal\n\nThis September, Truthout is celebrating 25 years of publication. For over two decades, we have been a trusted source for fiercely independent journalism thanks to readers like you.\n\n**As we look to the next 25 years, we have launched a special fundraising campaign. Looking to a sustainable future for our publication, we have a fundraising goal of $44,000 in the next 48 hours.**\n\nWe are asking for your support at this juncture because we face greater threats than ever before in our organizational history. Trump and his MAGA allies are determined to control the information ecosystem, and movement-based organizations are subject to dangerous censorship and scrutiny.\n\nIf you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work and our legacy. Anything you can do makes a difference!", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax", "canonical_source": "https://truthout.org/articles/trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax/", "published_at": "2026-09-22 18:32:16+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-22 18:54:50.965681+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["Donald Trump", "Truth Social", "Lancet Countdown", "Marina Romanello", "University College London", "GermanWatch", "University of Wisconsin-Madison", "China"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-compares-ai-warnings-to-past-climate-fears-he-wrongly-says-were-a-hoax.jsonld"}}