“The president strongly believes that protecting the environment and promoting our economy are not mutually exclusive goals," White House press secretary Sean Spicer says. | Getty Spicer dodges question on whether Trump still believes climate change is a hoax

White House press secretary Sean Spicer refused to say Tuesday whether President Donald Trump still believes that climate change is a hoax.

The president famously tweeted as a private citizen that climate change is a “hoax” and was mocked by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a debate for claiming it was created by the Chinese.


“Does the president still believe that climate change is a hoax?” a reporter asked Spicer on Tuesday.

“I think you'll hear more today about the climate and what he believes,” Spicer said. “I think he understands — he does not believe that, as I mentioned at the outset, that there is a binary choice been job creation, economic growth and caring about the environment, and that’s what we should be focusing on. I think at the end of the day where we should be focusing is making sure that all Americans have clean water, clean air and that we do what we can to preserve and protect our environment.”

Trump is expected to sign what the White House has called an “energy independence” executive order later Tuesday at EPA headquarters, where he will likely speak briefly to the media and possibly respond to questions.

“The president strongly believes that protecting the environment and promoting our economy are not mutually exclusive goals. This executive order will help to ensure that we have clean air and clean water without sacrificing economic growth and job creation,” Spicer told reporters at the top of his briefing. “First, it directs all agencies to conduct a review of all regulation, rules, policies and guidance documents that put up roadblocks to domestic energy production and identify the ones that are not either mandated by law or actually contributing to the public good. It also rescinds a number of the previous administration’s action that don’t reflect this administration’s priorities.”

In November 2012, Trump claimed “global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”

In a series of December 2013 tweets, Trump warned against focus on “expensive and business closing GLOBAL WARMING,” which he called “a total hoax!” He added in a separate post that it “is a total, and very expensive, hoax!” and questioned a month later why the U.S. was “still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX?”