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Greta Thunberg: 'Wouldn't Have Wasted My Time' Talking To President Trump About Climate Change

LONDON (CBS Local) -- 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg says meeting President Donald Trump would be a waste of time because he wouldn't listen to anything she has to say.

Thunberg made the comment during an interview with BBC radio's Today program on Monday. During the interview, she was pressed about what she would have told Trump if they spoke during her visit to the United States earlier this summer to attend the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.

"Honestly, I don't think I would have said anything because obviously he's not listening to scientists and experts, so why would he listen to me?" she responded.

"So I probably wouldn't have said anything, I wouldn't have wasted my time," she added.

A video of Thunberg giving Trump what some described as a "death stare" at that summit went viral on social media.

Thunberg's activism received both praise and criticism across the globe in 2019. She was named Time's Person of the Year. But she also faced criticism from Trump, who said she needs to "work on her Anger Management problem."

Trump has questioned climate science and is pulling the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro also called Thunberg a "brat" during an exchange with reporters on Dec. 10.

"Those attacks are just funny because they obviously don't mean anything," Thunberg said Monday. "I guess of course it means something - they are terrified of young people bringing change which they don't want - but that is just proof that we are actually doing something and that they see us as some kind of threat."

Thunberg rose to international national prominence for her climate activism after she started skipping school last year to protest outside the Swedish parliament. The protests have inspired millions of young people to take action against climate change.

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