Al Gore: I just had an ‘extremely interesting conversation’ about climate change with Donald Trump

Hunter Walker
·White House Correspondent

Former Vice President Al Gore had a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, on Monday.

The meeting was announced by Trump spokesman Jason Miller during the presidential transition team’s daily conference call. Miller said Gore would be discussing “climate issues” with Ivanka, but that he was not scheduled to speak with Trump. But as Gore left Trump Tower, he told reporters he had spoken with both the president-elect and his daughter.

“I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground. I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I’m just going to leave it at that,” Gore said.

The meeting follows reports that Ivanka could take on much of the role that is typically filled by first ladies and will make climate change one of her signature issues. Ivanka could also take over her father’s real estate business along with her siblings while he is in office.

If Ivanka does commit to addressing climate change, it would be a major departure from her father’s past comments on the issue. Trump has previously described climate change as a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. There is substantial evidence the world has been getting warmer in recent years and there is widespread consensus in the scientific community that this change is caused by man-made factors and that it could have disastrous consequences. Gore is an ardent environmentalist and has written books and produced a documentary film on global warming.

Yahoo News reached out to Gore, Ivanka and Trump’s transition team to ask about the meeting. They have not responded, however, a source close to Vice President Gore told us he reached out to the Trumps to arrange the visit. Gore is in New York City because the Climate Reality Project, a “climate action” organization he founded, is holding an event.

“Vice President Gore made clear in his statements following the election that he intended to do everything he could to work with the president-elect to ensure our nation remains a leader in the effort to address the climate crisis,” the source said. “He happens to be in the New York area this week for his 24-hour live broadcast, The Climate Reality Project’s 24 Hours of Reality, and they took him up on the opportunity to discuss the issue.”

This story was updated at 4:35 p.m. with the comment from the source close to Vice President Gore.