Query: Donald Trump "thinks that climate change is a hoax, invented by the Chinese."

Relevant passages:
Climate change denial <=SEP=> Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism .   Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming .   Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none .   Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks .  The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation .   Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies .

Donald Trump <=SEP=> Donald John Trump ( born June 14 , 1946 ) is the 45th and current President of the United States . Before entering politics , he was a businessman and television personality .   Trump was born and raised in Queens , New York City , and earned an economics degree from the Wharton School . He then took charge of The Trump Organization , the real estate and construction firm founded by his paternal grandmother , which he ran for 45 years until 2016 . During his real estate career , Trump built , renovated , and managed numerous office towers , hotels , casinos , and golf courses . Besides real estate , he started several side ventures and has licensed the use of his name for the branding of various products and properties , including Trump Entertainment Resorts , Trump Steaks , and Trump Vodka . He was the founder of Trump University . He owned the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants from 1996 to 2015 , and he produced and hosted The Apprentice , a reality television series on NBC , from 2004 to 2015 . His net worth was estimated to be $ 3.5 billion , making him the 544th richest person in the world .   Trump first publicly expressed interest in running for political office in 1987 . He won two Reform Party presidential primaries in 2000 , but withdrew his candidacy early on . In June 2015 , he launched his campaign for the 2016 presidential election and quickly emerged as the front-runner among seventeen candidates in the Republican primaries . His remaining opponents all suspended their campaigns by the end of May 2016 , and in July he was formally nominated at the Republican National Convention along with Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate . Many of his campaign statements were controversial or false , generating much free media coverage .   Trump won the general election on November 8 , 2016 , in a surprise victory against Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and commenced his presidency on January 20 , 2017 . He became the oldest and wealthiest person ever to assume the presidency , the first without prior military or government service , and the fifth to have won the election while losing the popular vote . His political positions have been described by scholars and commentators as populist , protectionist , and nationalist .

Global warming conspiracy theory <=SEP=> A global warming conspiracy theory invokes claims that scientific consensus on global warming is based on conspiracies to produce false data or suppress dissent . It is one of a number of tactics used in climate change denial to legitimize political controversy disputing this consensus .  Global warming conspiracy theorists typically allege that , through worldwide acts of professional and criminal misconduct , the science behind global warming has been invented or distorted for ideological or financial reasons , or both .