Trump says he has won "the war against the climate change hoax" after comments by Bill Gates

Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday to have won "the war against the climate change hoax," after comments by American billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates denouncing the "catastrophist vision" of experts on global warming.

"I (WE!) just won the war against the climate change hoax. Bill Gates has finally admitted he was completely WRONG on the issue," the US president declared on his Truth Social network, using capital letters as usual.

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Praising Bill Gates' "courage," Donald Trump, known for his climate-skeptic positions and his defense of the fossil fuel sector, concluded his message with his famous slogan "MAGA," or "Make America Great Again."

In a lengthy post published on his website Monday evening, Bill Gates wrote that global warming would "not lead to the extinction of humanity." Just days before the opening of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Microsoft co-founder also called for COP30 in Brazil to refocus the debate on "improving living conditions" rather than on temperatures or greenhouse gas emissions.

While climate change will have "serious consequences," added the philanthropist, whose fortune, according to Forbes, amounts to more than $100 billion, "people will be able to live and prosper across most of the planet in the near future."

Bill Gates, who left all executive functions at Microsoft in 2008 to devote himself to philanthropy, founded Breakthrough Energy in 2015. This fund has invested more than two billion dollars in emerging technologies, such as low-carbon cement or zero-emission aviation.

Bill Gates' vision irritates scientists, who accuse the billionaire of proposing a false choice between climate action and reducing human suffering.