US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has hit back at 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg in a sarcastic tweet mocking the teenager’s impassioned speech at the UN climate summit in New York.
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words," she said.
"People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing.
"We are in the beginning of a mass-extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.
"How dare you!" she asked.
Thunberg laid out the statistical evidence behind climate change, before stating again: "how dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you are doing enough."
Taking to Twitter in the aftermath of the speech, President Trump appeared to poke fun at Thunberg’s plea.
Writing in a quote-tweet that accompanied a video of Thunberg’s speech, Trump wrote: "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!"
The reaction comes after another video surfaced of Thunberg appearing to stare down the US President upon his arrival at the UN summit.
President Trump’s administration has come in for stiff criticism after seemingly reversing many of the environmental policies of his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Whereas Obama sought to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy production from renewable sources, President Trump has sought to increase fossil fuel use and scrap many key environmental regulations.
