Trump wins 'War on Climate Change Hoax' after Bill Gates admits he was 'completely wrong'

WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump claimed victory in the "War on the Climate Change Hoax" after Bill Gates said global warming "will not lead to humanity’s demise," interpreting the remark as a concession.

Gates, a leading climate change campaigner, is now calling for a shift in strategy, away from short-term emissions targets and toward improving human health and reducing poverty, particularly in the world’s poorest nations.

Trump declares 'victory' on Truth Social post

Trump, who has long been skeptical of official programs aimed at addressing climate change and has even called it a hoax, announced on his platform that he had won the argument on Wednesday, October 29. The president wrote on Truth Social: “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!!!”

Trump’s post followed Gates’s recent open letter, which played down the most catastrophic predictions about climate change.

Bill Gates urges focus on health and poverty over climate ‘doomsday’ fears

Although Gates has devoted considerable resources from his estimated $122 billion fortune to raising awareness about climate change, the Microsoft co-founder has indicated a shift in approach.

In a pre-summit open letter ahead of the upcoming UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil, Gates argued that focusing too heavily on a "doomsday outlook" and short-term emission reductions distracts from more immediate and urgent concerns. Gates asserted that climate change will not be the most serious threat for the majority of the world’s poor.

He wrote: “Although climate change will hurt poor people more than anyone else, for the vast majority of them, it will not be the only or even the biggest threat to their lives and welfare,” adding that “the biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been.”

He further added, “To be clear: Climate change is a very important problem. It needs to be solved, along with other problems like malaria and malnutrition. Every tenth of a degree of heating that we prevent is hugely beneficial because a stable climate makes it easier to improve people’s lives.”

Bill Gates calls for practical climate strategy centered on human progress

Gates is now calling for greater funding and attention toward near-term health and development challenges, including vaccines to combat deadly diseases such as malaria. He asserted that the focus of global strategy must shift from temperature targets to improving human existence and well-being.

He wrote that the goal should be “to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions who live in the world’s poorest countries.”

Acknowledging that some climate advocates might see his shift as hypocritical, Gates told the Financial Times: “If you said to me, ‘Hey, what about 0.1 degrees versus malaria eradication?’ I’ll let the temperature go up 0.1 degrees to get rid of malaria. People don’t understand the suffering that exists today.”

Gates remained optimistic about the future, noting that “emissions projections have gone down, and with the right policies and investments, innovation will allow us to drive emissions down much further.”