Trump said it best, “Smart people don’t like me.”

Trump is going down in history as the dumbest president in American history; however, that title may not be “biggly” enough for him. He is now being recognized globally as the dumbest world leader in history — a man who has willfully ignored, denied, and lied about established science, accelerating a planetary crisis that has already cost millions of lives. Trump’s science denial directly resulted in millions of preventable COVID deaths in his first term. Now, he is endangering the entire population of the world.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed climate science as a “hoax,” “bullshit,” and “the green scam.” At the United Nations, he called climate change a “con” — an irony lost on no one, coming from “Don the Con” himself, a man whose business empire was built on deceit, bankruptcies, and fraud. His record now includes criminal convictions, civil judgments, and an unparalleled legacy of scientific ignorance.

This year, Trump refused to cooperate with the COP30 global climate summit in Brazil, further cementing America’s retreat from global climate leadership. With global emissions nearly doubling in the last 33 years, few would argue that progress has met expectations. Worse, the post-COVID global consensus on tackling climate change is fracturing — led by Trump’s renewed campaign of climate disinformation and economic coercion. His administration’s new trade tariffs pressure allies such as Japan, the EU, and South Korea to buy more U.S. fossil fuels, directly undermining global decarbonization efforts.

Trump’s absence from COP30 drew sharp rebukes from world leaders. “For small island states, the climate crisis is not past tense or future tense. It is our reality. We have no way to run, no way to hide,” said Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Chilean President Gabriel Boric accused Trump of spreading “lies” about the climate crisis, while Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared, “Mr. Trump is against humankind.”

As Trump abandons both people and planet, others are stepping into the leadership void. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he will attend COP30 in Brazil, representing the world’s fourth-largest economy. Newsom aims to strengthen climate partnerships, promote clean-energy investments, and showcase California’s model for creating jobs while cutting toxic pollution.

“As the President of the United States turns his back on people and the planet, California is inking global partnerships focused on creating jobs and cutting toxic pollution,” Newsom said. “The economic winners of the 21st century are those who build the clean-energy future. We’re doing that right now — and showing the world that climate action means jobs, clean air, and lower costs.”

While Trump clings to fossil-fueled fantasies and falsehoods, California and the world are moving forward without him. History will remember Trump not as a leader, but as a warning — a living example of how ignorance, arrogance, and greed can conspire to imperil the planet itself.

The Great Race Against Time: Trump vs. Mother Nature

• Trump’s Socialism Irony: The “Flee to Florida” Fantasy Meets Climate Reality
• The Decline of Economic Power and the Ascent of Environmental Reality
• Deviation, Cracked Fractals, Climate, and Economics
• The Destructive Legacy of Trump’s Climate and Economic Policies
• The Persistence of Climate Change Denial: Impact and Consequences
• Politicians Hinder Fight Against Climate Change
• Trump’s War on Climate Science: Shuttering NASA’s GISS and Silencing the Truth
• A Sad Milestone: America Leads the World in Pollution, Not Progress