The White House publicly dismissed Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s criticism of the Trump administration’s refusal to fund his trip to the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, labeling him a “victim” of what it called the “Green New Scam.”
Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, had accused the administration of abandoning U.S. leadership on climate change after the State Department declined to support his credentialing and travel to the summit. He said the lack of support demonstrated the country’s failure to engage at the global event.
In response, a White House spokeswoman said the administration would not waste taxpayer dollars on what she characterized as a radical climate agenda. “Senator Whitehouse has fallen prey to the biggest scam of the century,” she stated, redirecting the dispute to broader debates over climate policy and federal spending.