'Would have loved to see' climate activist Thunberg at Davos, says Trump

DAVOS: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told reporters that he would have "loved to see" young climate activist Greta Thunberg as he left the Swiss luxury resort, and pointed out that she should shift her focus to countries which are worse polluters than the United States.

Trump had launched an extraordinary attack on environmental campaigners in a speech to the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday, saying they were "perennial prophets of doom" and the "heirs of yesterday's foolish fortune tellers".

Thunberg sat quietly through the speech and was unrepentant in later remarks. "Our house is still on fire," she said.

Trump partially denied that he thought global warming was a hoax, saying: "No not at all — I think aspects of it are."

He said campaigners had put global warming "at a level that is unrealistic" to the point where people cannot live their lives.

Also speaking at Davos, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended the administration's policies, saying its views had been misinterpreted.

"The US administration believes in clean air and clean water. This is a very complicated issue. We support a clean environment we just think it can be done in a way that is pro-business," he said.