Trump’s climate denial and Middle East hypocrisy: A fraudulent crusade against global stability

Donald Trump’s return to the global stage, in his second term as U.S. President, has come with the same bluster, the same disdain for facts, and the same dangerous cocktail of populist sophistry wrapped in the garb of “American exceptionalism.” His latest performance at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was not merely another Trumpian rant—it was a brazen assault on science, technology, and the delicate balance of global peace. He has always thrived on controversy, but in this second term, his politics of denial has reached a dangerous crescendo. Having once undermined science and public health during the Covid-19 pandemic—dismissing expert consensus and rubbishing painstaking global efforts to contain the virus—Trump has now turned his artillery on climate change, the greatest existential threat facing humankind.

At a time when the world is gasping under the weight of climate change, when rising seas are swallowing coastlines, droughts are ravaging farmland, and wildfires are consuming nations—Trump chose to mock decades of painstaking scientific research. He derided climate predictions as “wrong,” dismissed the scientists who made them as “stupid people,” and caricatured green energy policies as a scam designed to loot America. To him, oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power represent the holy grail of “energy dominance,” while clean energy is nothing more than a fairy tale.

This is not mere rhetoric. It is an assault—a calculated sabotage, on the very principles of “science and technology” that made America the world’s most powerful nation. From Silicon Valley’s ingenuity to NASA’s audacity, America’s prestige rests on its ability to harness knowledge, not mock it. When Trump dismisses renewable energy and climate science, he is not only betraying the legacy of American innovation, he is also, inadvertently, ceding leadership in a race that defines the 21st century. China, the EU, and other forward-looking nations are investing heavily in green technology, while Trump preaches fossil-fuel nostalgia that belongs in the last century.

This is not just ignorance; it is calculated hypocrisy. The very technological innovations in renewable energy, battery storage, and green architecture that Trump derides are the same engines that have kept America at the vanguard of global power. It is solar panels, wind farms, and AI-driven energy efficiency—not just shale rigs and nuclear silos—that project American soft power and economic dominance in the 21st century. By scorning these breakthroughs, Trump undermines the very foundation of America’s technological supremacy.

Worse still, Trump’s worldview bleeds into foreign policy. His characteristic flair for double-speak is as dangerous as it is amusing! He postures as a champion of stability, even as he openly emboldens Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a brutal expansionist agenda. His open support for Israel’s genocidal atrocities in Gaza and his dismissal of the historic recognition of the Palestinian state by scores of European and North American nations betray his hostility to peace and justice. This is not diplomacy; it is reckless partisanship that fuels instability in an already fragile world.

Here lies the naked hypocrisy: the United States, under Trump’s watch, continues to wear the toga of “global police” and “ambassador of peace.” Yet in reality, it is arming and shielding an ally whose policies destabilize the Middle East, fuel radicalization, and make peace a distant dream. America’s voice, once (at least rhetorically) a moral compass in global affairs, is now reduced to a megaphone for selective justice. A report has it that Trump claimed he is “close” to a peace agreement that would bring an end to the war in Gaza, following his meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister. In a conflict between two nations, I wonder how an upright person could claim to be working out a peace deal with only one of the parties, without the presence of, or inputs from, the other! Every condition in the proposed deal embodies the demands of the Israeli government—extinguishing Hamas, a huge factor in the conflict. It is not a peace deal but a demand induced by arrogance of victory or perceived supremacy. The person brokering such kind of peace can only be a “Donald Trump “To further underscore his penchant for double-speak, he claimed to be using his “very good relationship” with Vladimir Putin to work out a permanent solution to the Russian-Ukrainian war while also blaming some North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries for their continued patronage of Russia’s energy products—something he sees as a factor for Russia’s intransigence. According to him, they are inadvertently funding  Russia’s invasion of the country by patronising Russia’s energy products. He, therefore, said the US is prepared to impose “a very strong round of powerful tariffs” on Russia if it is not ready to make a deal to end the war.

But, how can you claim to have a good relationship with Putin and, at the same time, threaten to impose stiffer sanctions on your supposed “ally”, and also carry out a campaign of boycott against its oil and gas as a means of ending the war? You can’t get it more contradictory than that, can you? If you think this is funny, ask the majority of American citizens who feel, daily, embarrassed by his unpresidential utterances and conduct since he assumed office in his first term up to this moment.

World leaders must take Trump’s words for what they are: a fraudulent crusade against global stability, dressed in the rhetoric of American nationalism. His rejection of science threatens the collective survival of humanity; his indulgence of Israel’s expansionism imperils global peace, with  one of the world’s most volatile regions as its epicentre. Together, these positions expose Trump not as a defender of American interests, but as a destabilizing force whose politics of denial and duplicity jeopardise global peace and progress.

He has even threatened to block any move by FIFA or UEFA, to bar Israel from participating in the next World Cup, set to be co-hosted by the trio of the USA, Mexico, and Canada. Meanwhile, this was the same treatment meted out to Russia as a consequence for its invasion of Ukraine, with the US not batting an eyelid (not as though the suspension was misplaced). It must, however, be noted that, when it comes to the hypocritical silence on the ongoing genocide by Israel in Gaza, Europe is not innocent. These were the people who were sharp in recommending Russia for suspension from FIFA and UEFA activities, while it has done nothing more than a fraction of what Israel is doing on the Palestinian territory, especially Gaza. After over a year of ceaseless killing of children, women, and the aged, they are just planning to vote on whether to suspend Israel or not. Just yesterday (Tuesday), during a UEFA Champions League match between Galatasaray and Liverpool in Istanbul, it was glaring how the camera was struggling to avoid capturing messages of solidarity with the people of Gaza, by sections of Gala fans. On social media platforms, they use algorithms to obliterate what is going on in Gaza, according to the Ghanaian President John Mahama, during his address at the UNGA. They, instead, populate people’s news feeds with stories of Charlie Kirk to draw away people’s attention from the US-enabled war crime in Gaza.

The danger is not just in Trump’s words but in the audience he commands. His followers see climate denial not as a betrayal of science but as defiance of an imagined global cabal. They see his support for Israel not as complicity in oppression and war crimes, but as loyalty to an ally. And therein lies the peril: Trump’s rhetoric feeds a politics of grievance that could derail decades of painstaking progress in both climate action and conflict resolution.

World leaders should be alarmed. Trump’s fraudulent crusade against science, climate action, and global solidarity represents more than political bluster; it is a destabilizing force with real consequences. If the most powerful country in the world adopts climate denialism as state policy, the fragile gains in combating global warming could unravel. If America abandons multilateralism in favour of Trump’s zero-sum populism, global stability and progress are imperilled.

History will not be kind to leaders who, in the face of existential threats, choose to mock truth and reward violence. World leaders must  therefore, resist Trump’s sophistry, reaffirm the primacy of science, and defend the fragile architecture of peace across the world. To do otherwise is to surrender the future of humanity to the whims and caprices of a man who thrives on chaos and deception.

Trump’s sophistry thrives on fear, division, and manufactured outrage. But leaders who care about the survival of humanity must reject it decisively. The fight against climate change, the pursuit of sustainable energy, and the defence of human dignity in conflict zones are not partisan battles. They are the litmus tests of civilization. It’s a referendum on the continued relevance of the United Nations Organisation, as the successor to the League of Nations, following the latter’s inability to prevent the Second World War—the very purpose for which it was founded. If Trump is allowed to get away with these fraudulent narratives, the UN would not only fail the test but also go the way of its predecessor, who failed to prevent another large-scale global conflict—a factor that  necessitated its interment in the aftermath of the 2nd World War.

The world cannot afford to indulge Trump’s delusions any further. For in his hands, denial is not just political strategy—it is a weapon against the future.

Happy 65th Independence Day celebration to every Nigerian, home and abroad! May the Lord Almighty heal our land, of chronic insecurity, and acute leadership deficiency syndrome!

Abubakar writes from Ilorin, Kwara State. He can be reached via 08051388285 or [email protected]