Trump Will Not Send Top Officials to Cop30
By Our Foreign Staff
The US president has called climate change a ‘hoax’ and used the threat of tariffs to purchase fossil-fuel energy
Donald Trump will not send any top officials to the Cop30 climate talks in Brazil this month as he goes all-in on fossil fuels.
The US president, who withdrew from the Paris climate agreement for a second time upon his return to the White House, called climate change a “hoax” and a “con job” at a speech to the UN General Assembly in September.
He has used the threat of tariffs to strike multi-billion dollar deals with foreign nations to purchase supplies of US energy.
Earlier this year, he scolded Sir Keir Starmer for failing to exploit Britain’s North Sea oil reserves and criticised him for embracing wind farms.
Mr Trump previously criticised Sir Keir Starmer for failing to exploit Britain’s North Sea oil reserves
On Saturday, it emerged that Mr Trump would not send any top negotiators to the talks, where leaders from around the world will discuss how to limit and prepare for climate change.
He had already said he would not attend a leaders’ summit ahead of the talks in Belem, which run from Nov 10 to 21.
“The US is not sending any high-level representatives to Cop30,” a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The president is directly engaging with leaders around the world on energy issues, which you can see from the historic trade deals and peace deals that all have a significant focus on energy partnerships.”
Fewer than 60 leaders expected
Brazil said on Friday that fewer than 60 premiers have confirmed they will attend the Leaders’ Summit on Nov 6-7, held separately from the Cop debates this year to ease accommodation pressures.
The leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Colombia, Chile, Cape Verde and Liberia will attend.
China has said Ding Xuexiang, its vice-premier, will represent Xi Jinping, the president.
Mr Trump took the US out of the Paris climate change deal in his first term, but his administration has gone further this time, exerting its clout to boost fossil fuels globally.
This includes, for example, threatening countries with retaliatory measures if they agreed to a carbon pricing system by the UN’s International Maritime Organisation, effectively curtailing its implementation.
Climate advocates fear the administration could seek to withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – the treaty that underpins the Paris Agreement.
The US president secured an agreement with South Korea for roughly $100bn in US energy purchases
Doing so could prevent future administrations from re-entering the deal, but it is not clear if the executive branch has the legal authority to undo a Senate-ratified treaty.
In recent months, Mr Trump has secured an agreement with South Korea for roughly $100bn (£76bn) in US energy purchases, as well as a further $750bn from the European Union, which struck the deal to avoid the threat of higher sanctions.
The president has also pressured the International Energy Agency to shuffle its leadership and paint a rosier picture of future demand for fossil fuels.
Mr Trump’s decision to essentially withdraw from the Cop30 summit will have an impact on proceedings, analysts said.
“Countries like Saudi Arabia feel emboldened by Trump to promote fossil fuels,” Linda Kalcher, founder of the Strategic Perspectives think tank and a veteran of the annual UN climate summits, told Bloomberg.
Original source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/11/01/trump-will-not-send-top-officials-to-cop30/