Greta Thunberg: ‘I Wouldn’t Have Wasted My Time’ Talking to Trump About Climate Change

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg said on Monday that talking to President Trump about climate change would be a “waste of time.” In an interview with BBC radio’s Today program, Thunberg said that the president would not have paid attention if she had talked to him at a United Nations summit on global warming in New York in September. The 16-year-old Swedish activist gave Trump a famous “death stare” as he walked past her at the summit, which quickly went viral on social media. Thunberg said, “Honestly, I don’t think I would have said anything because obviously he’s not listening to scientists and experts, so why would he listen to me?” Thunberg was named Time magazine’s “Person of The Year,” and Trump subsequently attacked her on social media, saying, “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem.” 

“Those attacks are just funny because they obviously don’t mean anything,” Thunberg said during the interview. “I guess of course it means something—they are terrified of young people bringing change which they don’t want—but that is just proof that we are actually doing something and that they see us as some kind of threat.”