President Trump dredged up his skepticism of global warming Thursday as Americans in large swaths of the U.S. brace for a frigid and snowy New Year's celebration.

"In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record," the president remarked.

He then took a swipe at the concept of global warming, which years ago he proposed was a Chinese hoax, as well as the Paris climate accord.

"Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against," Trump added. "Bundle up!"

In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017



Forecasters predict bitter cold weather in much of the U.S. as Arctic air plunges from the north over the next couple of days. In some places in the Upper Midwest, like Minneapolis, the temperature is expected to drop below the 0 degree Fahrenheit mark.

Meanwhile, snow is likely to blanket the ground in wide stretches of the Midwest and Northeast, including New York City, over the weekend.

Trump sent the tweet from sunny Florida, at the Mar-a-lago in West Palm Beach, where he is staying for the Christmas holiday and high temperatures are projected to be in the high 60s and 70s for the next week.

The Trump administration has been criticized for its apathy towards climate change, notably in how Trump announced over the summer the United States' departure from the international Paris climate agreement — which he argued would save the U.S. economy trillions of dollars.

That signaled a reversal from Trump's predecessor, former President Barack Obama, who helped orchestrated the international agreement and pledged $3 billion to assist poorer countries cope with climate change.

The Obama administration had already begun funding the effort through the U.N. Green Climate Fund, a key portion of the Paris deal which aims to rally countries around the world to limit global temperature rise to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. Just before Obama left office in January, his administration approved a $500 million payment for the second year in a row, as part of the U.S.'s obligation to the international agreement.

The Trump administration has made other moves that have signaled a dismissal of the threat of global warming, including dropping climate change from a list of global threats.

Trump did, however, sign an annual defense policy bill that identifies climate change as a “direct threat” to national security and orders a Pentagon report on the 10 military bases considered the most vulnerable.

Trump's outlook on global warming has been a subject of conversation since his infamous 2012 tweet declaring it to be a hoax.

"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," Trump said long before he was president.

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012



Most scientists believe that humans are the largest contributor of greenhouse gases that cause global warming — which has been tied to, among other things, an unusually intense hurricane season and wildfires in California this year.