This is essentially the ultimate Donald Trump story. It has every element.
Trump talking about his beloved sport of golf? Check. Trump trying to protect his business? Check. Trump saying one thing to the general public and doing another thing behind the public's back that goes against the thing he's saying to the general public? Double check.
It is the quintessential Trump narrative.
"I consider climate change to be not one of our big problems," said Trump last fall, according to Politico. "I consider it to be not a big problem at all. I think it's weather. I think it's weather changes. It could be some man-made something, but you know, if you look at China, they're doing nothing about it. Other countries, they're doing nothing about it. It's a big planet. I'm not a believer in global warming. And I'm not a believer in man-made global warming. It could be warming, and it's going to start to cool at some point. And you know, in the early, in the 1920s, people talked about global cooling."
OK, fine. Agree or disagree, your opinion is your opinion.
However, can one even be sure Trump believes what he's saying. Consider this, also from Politico, which unearthed some of Trump's business dealings recently.
The New York billionaire is applying for permission to erect a coastal protection works to prevent erosion at his seaside golf resort, Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland, in County Clare. A permit application for the wall, filed by Trump International Golf Links Ireland and reviewed by POLITICO, explicitly cites global warming and its consequences -- increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather this century -- as a chief justification for building the structure.
How great is that?
It will be interesting to see if Trump changes his public tune which, as recently as March, had not wavered. As he is seriously intertwined in the golf world (Jack Nicklaus even recently endorsed him for president), issues like this won't go away. But as we march closer to the election, they might dissipate as more pressing matters come to the forefront.
