World Bank president declines calls to step down

What he's saying: "When asked, 'Are you a climate denier?’ I should’ve said no," Malpass, a Trump holdover, said Friday during a virtual conversation with a Politico author, the outlet reports.

• “It was a poorly chosen line, I regret that, because we as an organization are using the science every day."
• "That wasn’t a good phrase for me to use,” Malpass said. “We have a lot of input from our global scientific community."
• He also said that he would "absolutely" accept training from climate scientists, per Politico.

State of play: Malpass' refusal this week to acknowledge that fossil fuels were warming the planet sparked international calls for his resignation.

• For Biden administration officials who already were suspicious of his positions on climate change, Malpass' remarks added fuel to their desire to remove him, Nichols notes.

• White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a news conference Friday that the Biden administration disagrees with Malpass' comments and expects the World Bank "to be a global leader of climate ambition and mobilization."

Go deeper... Trump’s World Bank head speaks out on climate change, inequality

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.