Former Vice President Al Gore seemed encouraged after emerging from a meeting with President-elect Trump Monday afternoon, telling reporters they had a “very productive” discussion about environmental policy and how the next administration might address the hot-button issue of climate change going forward.
Gore, who was intially scheduled to meet with Trump’s daughter Ivanka, said he spent the “bulk” of his time speaking to the incoming Republican president after a brief meeting with his daughter.
“I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect,” the prominent climate change activist told reporters inside Trump Tower. “It was a sincere search for common ground.”
He continued: “I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued. I’m just going to leave it at that.”
The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee has been critical of Trump’s climate skepticism in the past and actively campaigned against him in the final weeks of the election. Trump has called climate change a “hoax” created “by and for the Chinese” and once urged the Nobel committee to strip Gore of his Nobel Peace Prize after New York City experienced a severe snowstorm in 2010.
The president-elect has yet to issue a statement about his meeting with Gore, who is one of several prominent Democrats Trump has met with since his surprise victory last month.
