‘World needs more young angry women’: Greta Thunberg hits back at Donald Trump

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was deported by Israel en route to war-torn Gaza, has hit back at US President Donald Trump after he mocked her over her aid mission.

Thunberg was aboard the ‘Madleen’, which was intercepted about 100 nautical miles (185 km) off the coast of Gaza in international waters on Monday while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and was then deported from Israel after being detained.

The journey was organised by Freedom Flotilla, a pro-Palestine coalition, to deliver aid to Gaza, which is grappling with a hunger crisis amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Trump had mocked Thunberg, calling her a “strange” and “young, angry person” with “anger issues” after she accused Israeli forces of “kidnapping” her during her bid to deliver aid to Gaza.

“I don’t know if it’s real anger. It’s hard to believe, actually, but I saw what happened. She’s certainly different,” Trump said.

Trump also advised that Thunberg attend anger management classes, stating, “Anger management—I think she has to go to an anger management class. That’s my primary recommendation for her… Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg.”

The climate activist reacted to Trump’s remarks after arriving in Paris following her deportation by Israeli forces and said, “I think the world needs many more young angry women, to be honest,” adding, “Especially with everything going on right now. That’s the thing we need the most of.”

She described her detention as a ‘kidnapping’ and ‘an intentional violation of rights’.

She further said that her own experience was minor compared to what Palestinians are going through in Gaza.

“The conditions we faced are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now,” she said.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier posted, “The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.”

Thunberg and Trump have clashed several times previously. In 2019, Trump mocked the activist after she accused world leaders of failing her generation, calling her a “very happy young girl.”

He also suggested that she “work on her Anger Management problem” after she was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.