President Donald Trump was mocked online after claiming during a 1 October speech in Denton, Texas, that melting ice had set a record.
Trump called it 'the biggest ice cube that's ever been in the history of the world', without identifying the measurement or record he meant, according to The Mirror.
The remark came during Trump's visit to the Peterbilt Motors plant in Denton, where he promoted US manufacturing, tariffs and his administration's economic policies. He also discussed climate change and criticised policies associated with efforts to reduce fossil fuel use.
Trump's comments came as he began a wider campaign push ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections. Texas was also politically significant because Trump appeared alongside Republican US Senate nominee Ken Paxton, who is challenging Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
During his speech, Trump referred to a previous statement by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about the urgency of addressing climate change. He said: 'We're supposed to all be dead. AOC said that, right? That didn't work out because the planet got cooler.'
Trump then continued: 'In fact, you know, the ice that was melting, it's right now just set a record. It's the biggest ice cube that's ever been in the history of the world.'
Trump's 'Biggest Ice Cube' Claim
Trump did not say whether he meant Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice, an ice sheet, or another measurement. The latest data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) also does not show a record-high Arctic sea-ice extent.
NSIDC said Arctic sea ice likely reached its 2026 minimum on 12 September at 4.60 million square kilometres. That figure tied with 2008, 2010 and 2025 for the 10th-lowest minimum in the nearly 48-year satellite record.
The organisation also said the 20 lowest Arctic sea-ice extents in the satellite record occurred during the 2007-2026 period. The measurement therefore does not support describing 2026 as a record for the greatest Arctic sea-ice extent.
Trump also argued that the term 'global warming' had been replaced by 'climate change' because the latter could describe hot or cold conditions. He called climate change a 'scam' and linked the issue to data centres. He used those characterisations during the speech.
The comments generated discussion online, including a Reddit thread that attracted hundreds of votes and comments mocking Trump's description of the ice record. The discussion shows online reaction, but it should not be treated as representative of public opinion as a whole.
What Ocasio-Cortez Actually Said
Trump's reference to Ocasio-Cortez concerned comments she made in January 2019. She said younger generations were being told that 'the world will end in 12 years if we don't address climate change' while critics focused on the cost of climate action.
That wording has frequently been presented as a literal prediction that the Earth would cease to exist in 12 years. The broader context was a warning about the consequences of failing to address climate change, not a prediction that every person would die by a particular date.
The comments came around the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. The report said limiting warming to 1.5°C would require rapid and far-reaching changes across energy, industry, transport, buildings, land and cities.
The IPCC also said global net human-caused carbon dioxide emissions would need to fall by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 to remain on pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. It warned that more warming would increase the risk of long-lasting or irreversible changes.
The climate discussion at Trump's Texas appearance therefore involved two separate issues: his description of current ice conditions and his interpretation of Ocasio-Cortez's 2019 remarks. Neither establishes that the world has experienced a reversal of long-term climate change.
Trump's Denton appearance also attracted attention because of the Texas Senate contest. Paxton appeared alongside him while campaigning against Talarico, adding an electoral dimension to an event initially presented around manufacturing and economic policy.
Days before the visit, The New York Times obtained an audio recording of remarks attributed to Paxton at a private fundraiser. Asked a question whose subject was unclear in the recording, Paxton said: 'So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody's numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.'
Paxton's senior adviser Nick Maddux disputed the report's interpretation. He described it as 'manipulated nonsense' and said the campaign's internal polling showed Paxton leading by three points. That internal polling claim is a campaign assertion and should not be presented as an independently established result.
The Texas visit therefore combined Trump's manufacturing message, his criticism of climate policies and campaigning for Paxton. The 'biggest ice cube' remark became one of the speech's most widely discussed moments, while scientific data painted a different picture of the latest Arctic sea-ice record.
