President Donald Trump poured a glass of water onto the floor during a speech at the Peterbilt Motors plant in Denton, Texas, using the gesture to criticise Biden-era vehicle emissions standards and call climate change a 'scam'.
The move, on Thursday, 1 October, was framed as a demonstration of the amount of fuel he said would be saved under stricter rules, which he argued would come at excessive cost to manufacturers and consumers.
What Happened at the Peterbilt Plant
The incident occurred during a visit focused on promoting the administration's trade policies, tariffs and efforts to expand US manufacturing. Trump was speaking to workers and company leaders when he held up a small glass of water and said, 'I'm not a big drinker of water,' according to footage and a transcript of the remarks.
He went on to argue that meeting the Biden-era standards would require manufacturers to add technology to engines and increase vehicle costs.
Trump said the changes would require three computers to be added to an engine and would cost an additional $3,000, all to save what he portrayed as a small amount of fuel. He then said, 'It's ridiculous,' before emptying the glass onto the floor and continuing his speech.
The Biden administration's 2024 heavy-duty greenhouse-gas standards, known as Phase 3, covered model years 2027–32 and were described by the EPA as technology-neutral and performance-based, allowing manufacturers to choose the technologies they used to meet the standards.
Trump's Water Gesture Spreads Online
Trump's water gesture drew criticism online and became a prominent part of footage and social-media discussion of the speech. The video prompted a range of reactions on social media, including criticism of Trump's remarks and the gesture.
The appearance also included a campaign component. Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state's US Senate race and attacked Democratic candidate state Rep. James Talarico. Paxton appeared with Trump, who praised him as a strong ally while joking that he could be 'a pain in the ass.'
Trump Attacks Climate Policies and Climate-Change Claims in Denton
Later in the speech, Trump returned to climate change and referred to Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
'We're supposed to all be dead. AOC said that, right? That didn't work out because the planet got cooler,' he said. Trump referred to a 2019 remark by then-freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said the world would 'end in 12 years' if climate change was not addressed.
Her comment was made in the context of the urgency surrounding the emissions reductions discussed in a 2018 IPCC report. The report did not predict that the world would literally end in 12 years.
Trump also claimed that melting ice had 'just set a record' and called it 'the biggest ice cube that's ever been in the history of the world,' but he did not specify which ice measurement he was referring to or provide supporting data during the speech.
He then dismissed the language used in climate discussions. 'So they changed it from global warming to climate change, because climate change, if it gets hot, cold, if it rains, if it snows, nobody knows the difference. It's climate change,' Trump said.
'No, it's a scam,' he added, linking the issue to data centres and claiming they were being used to make the United States 'unsuccessful.' Trump did not cite scientific data or a specific source for those climate-related claims during the speech.
The remarks came as Trump argued against Biden-era environmental and emissions policies and promoted his administration's approach to energy and manufacturing.
Manufacturing Message and Campaign Stop
At Peterbilt, Trump also credited tariffs and reduced regulation with strengthening the company's operations. Peterbilt said the Denton facility had added more than 1,000 jobs, while Trump presented the plant's expansion and hiring as evidence of the manufacturing growth he attributed to his administration's policies.
Trump continued his speech after emptying the glass and went on to discuss energy, manufacturing, data centres and the Texas Senate race.
