On Aug. 12, 2024, social media users claimed former U.S. President Donald Trump said during an interview on X with its owner Elon Musk that "rising sea levels from climate change is a good thing because it'll create more beachfront property."
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich told his X followers Trump "has no comprehension of reality," while the X account of Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign posted audio of the interview, with the caption: "Trump, slurring, says he's okay with climate change and rising sea levels because he thinks he'll 'have more oceanfront property'."
Similar posts also appeared on Facebook and Instagram a day later.
One X user added: "If you're on the fence about Donald Trump, consider this: he has said numerous times he likes global warming because it will give him more beachfront property."
What Did Trump Actually Say About Sea Levels Rising?
Trump's Aug. 12 interview with Musk was posted on Trump's official YouTube channel.
During their chat (at 44:32 of the above video), the former president told the Tesla CEO that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea were known as the "modern day axis of evil." Trump said they are "powerful countries" with "very heavy nuclear" capabilities, "which is the biggest threat."
He then added (emphasis in bold ours):
You know, the biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean's gonna rise one eighth of an inch over the next 400 years, the big, and you'll have more oceanfront property, right? The biggest threat is not that. The biggest threat is nuclear warming because we have five countries now that have significant nuclear power and we have to not allow anything to happen with stupid people like Biden.
At no point did Trump overtly say he "likes global warming" or that it would be a "good thing" if sea levels rise due to climate change because it would create more oceanfront property, but given Trump's tone, context, and previous similar remarks, listeners could have reasonably inferred that the former president was suggesting more oceanfront property would be a positive outcome of sea levels rising.
How Did People React to Trump's Comments?
On Aug. 13, 2024, The Washington Post published an article titled, "Does Donald Trump understand how the ocean works?" which unpacked Trump's claim about rising sea levels leading to "more oceanfront property."
The article said: "If you have a defined area of land that's surrounded by water, an increase in the height of the water means that it covers more land. The result is less land touching the ocean, not more." It also included a graphic illustrating that, in fact, less land touches the ocean when sea levels rise:
(The Washington Post )
"The illustration above is exaggerated, obviously, but we can do some simple math to prove the point," the article continued, explaining in layman's terms how rising sea levels would affect the shoreline in the United States:
There are 95,471 miles of shoreline in the United States, including outlining American territories. Imagine, for the sake of simplicity, that's a big circle, as above. The 95,471 miles would be its circumference, the distance around its outside edge. Its diameter — its width across the middle — would be about 504,086,880 feet. Now slice off two feet at each end, marking the anticipated sea-level rise by 2100. (A rise of two feet in sea level doesn't necessarily mean that it eats into the shore two feet, but this is just an example.) Now the circumference (the diameter times pi) is 504,086,867 feet. About 13 fewer feet of shoreline!
The article concluded: "On the scale of the United States, this is not a big shift, but it highlights the point. A big spike in sea levels would almost certainly reduce the amount of oceanfront property — though it would add new oceanfront property... The issue isn't that sea levels will rise and old beachfront property will magically be replaced with new beachfront property. It's that flooding will become more common and increasingly problematic — and make the effects of big storms far worse. It is not a 'Hey, more beach clubs for the Trump Organization!' situation."
Additionally, the BBC debunked the former president's claim that the "ocean's gonna rise one eighth of an inch over the next 400 years." Its article said Trump was vastly underestimating the rise in sea levels:
In the decade 2014-2023, global average sea levels rose by an average of nearly 4.8mm per year (0.19in), according to the World Meteorological Organization.
That increase is already greater than the one eighth of an inch (0.13in) that Mr Trump predicts will happen over the next 400 years.
The magnitude of future rises is difficult to predict, because it is uncertain how quickly ice-sheets will melt, and future warming will depend on greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated a likely range of 0.28 to 1.01m of global sea-level rise by 2100 - although higher rises can't be ruled out.
A sea-level rise of one metre would put hundreds of millions of people at risk of more regular coastal flooding, as well as submerging parts of low-lying countries such as the Maldives.
Similarly, fact-checking outlet Logically reported that "Trump's estimation of the velocity of the sea-level rise is inaccurate":
According to NASA, the global average sea level has risen by four inches in the last thirty years (since 1993). Moreover, the average sea level rose by 0.3 inches only from 2022 to 2023. The rate has surged in the past 30 years; the global sea level rose on average 0.07 inches per year in 1993, but the current rate is 0.17. This acceleration is due to global warming and the development of the El Niño phenomenon.
Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population lives in coastal areas where the sea level affects the frequency of flooding, shoreline erosion, and storm hazards.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average sea level has risen eight to nine inches since 1880. Global warming is causing the average sea level to rise in two ways. Firstly, by melting glaciers and ice sheets, which add water to the ocean, and second, by expanding the volume of the sea as the water gets warmer.
It was not the first time Trump made similar comments about climate change, rising sea levels, "nuclear warming," and joked about having "more beachfront property."
Journalist Aaron Rupar captioned one video of Trump in July 2022: "Trump, speaking in Alaska, dismisses climate change and rising sea levels: 'We have bigger problems than that. We'll have a little more beachfront property. That's not the worst thing in the world."
Snopes has also addressed other rumors regarding Musk and Trump. In July 2024, we debunked a screenshot allegedly showing an X post by Musk reading, "'Weird' is a slur being used against Trump supporters, and it will not be tolerated on this platform. Trump supporters should not have to face ridicule for their beliefs. Any harassment of Trump supporters using the term 'Weird' will be punished."
Likewise, in August 2024, we investigated a claim Musk once said: "Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America."