Trump Drops Greenland Threats as Europe Hardens Stance (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to the Global News Podcast on YouTube, where we go behind the headlines. I'm Jenna Jalil. And today, after Donald Trump dropped both his threats of a military takeover of Greenland and his threats of tariffs on European nations who back the island's sovereignty, we'll ask why he stepped back from the brink and what happens next. We're joined from Brussels by our Europe correspondent Nick Beek. And Nick, it's been a head-spinning 24 hours. It seemed that initially Donald Trump was intent on seizing Greenland, only to then apparently completely back down. What do you make of it?

[00:00:38] Speaker 2: Well, it was certainly an incredible climb down, wasn't it, Jenna? And probably Donald Trump's the only person who knows how it came about. His position had been uncompromising, but then there were those two bombshell moments. First of all, when he said he wouldn't be using military power to take Greenland. And then he removed the threat that he put forward that had caused so much drama here in Europe when he was going to put added tariffs on those eight countries who he had deemed were getting in the way of his Arctic ambitions in their support for Greenland. So, yeah, it really came out of the blue. President Trump is saying that actually everyone's fine here and he's got what he wanted and all is well. But certainly it was a climb down from what he was threatening.

[00:01:22] Speaker 1: Well, he says he's got what he wanted, but what has he got? Because he's talking about a framework agreement that he struck with the head of NATO. But what's in it that he wouldn't have had anyway?

[00:01:32] Speaker 2: Yeah, well, very good question. And we simply don't know. Mr Trump in the past has said on many occasions that we're on the cusp of a deal, that an agreement has been struck and it's going to be a fantastic one for everyone. Think of Ukraine, the number of times he's said we're on the precipice of peace breaking out and it hasn't been the case. All we know is he says there's this sort of framework that's been established. And of course, this has come about through a meeting with Mark Rutter, the NATO chief. But the details aren't there other than Mr Trump saying that it will be a fantastic move for the United States, for Greenland, for the people of Europe, for the whole world, really. And we haven't got much detail from NATO other than they say they're kind of characterising this as an expansion of what currently happens. So in other words, bolstering, strengthening the NATO presence around Greenland in the Arctic and really deterring the Russian and Chinese threat in the future.

[00:02:29] Speaker 1: So Mr Trump seems to have backed down for now, but there are many warnings that the transatlantic relationship has been damaged permanently. We can't go back to what we've had before.

[00:02:42] Speaker 2: Undoubtedly, I think something has changed because for the first year of Mr Trump being back in the White House, his European supposed allies and friends got to know him once more, and they worked out how to try and deal with him, whether that was through flattery, appeasement, cajoling, giving him what he wanted at times and at other times, gently pointing out where they believed he was wrong. But I think what's happened in this week has been significant because the language that was being used by really top European officials was different from before. There were moments when in quite, you know, carefully choreographed speeches, really senior figures in the European Union were talking about the Americans and the Russians in the same breath. They were talking about their concern that international law was being trampled all over. And there were points at which it wasn't clear, for example, when Mr Macron, President Macron of France was talking, whether he was referring to Mr Trump or Mr Putin when he talked about imperial ambition.

[00:03:42] Speaker 1: So what are the lessons for Europe here? Is the lesson that European nations need to put on a united front? And if Mr Trump is to change his mind in the future, what can they do?

[00:03:55] Speaker 2: Well, I think they certainly feel here in Europe that they have benefited from sticking together and putting on a united front and reaching for tougher language. Interestingly, that last year, the Chinese seemed to be the people who stood up to Mr Trump the most when they were clobbered with a huge tariff threat, 145% tariffs in some cases. And they said, OK, we're going to match you with that. And President Trump, after seeing the impact it had on the American stock market, American bonds, backed down. And whether or not the Europeans have consciously taken a leaf out of the Chinese book, they have been tough. The language has been strong. They talked about all the economic countermeasures at their disposal. We don't know which of those threats the European or certainly the warnings they were giving, which of those really chimed with Mr Trump. But certainly something made him back down and back down pretty fast.

[00:04:50] Speaker 1: But nevertheless, in his speech at Davos, Mr Trump was quite derogatory about NATO, about European nations and their policies. And he repeatedly confused Greenland with Iceland. So a very alarming watch for the political and business elite gathered there.

[00:05:08] Speaker 2: Yes, I think talking to people afterwards, there was a great deal of concern, but also hurt some of the things that President Trump was saying. He has had this theme that he's been repeating and riffing on for quite a while now, that Europe is going in the wrong direction. He says, whether it's on energy or on what he characterises as a mad immigration policy, that it's going in the wrong path and is sort of doomed for destruction, really. Some of the things he said were quite pointed. He singled out Mr Macron of France. At one point, he seemed to mimic a French accent. He was really disparaging of the Danes, who, of course, own Greenland. He was talking about how, during the Second World War, Denmark capitulated in hours to the Nazis. There was one point where Mr Trump said, you know, if it wasn't for us, talking about the Americans, if it wasn't for us, you'd all be speaking German, or maybe a little bit of Japanese. So I mean, for a lot of people, that would be insulting. But also the fact that he was speaking in Switzerland, a country where German is the most widely spoken language, I think for a lot of people, it just didn't land. There was a sour taste in the mouth after that.

[00:06:20] Speaker 1: So, Nick, is this the end of the liberal democratic order, which was forged by the US and its Western allies in the aftermath of World War II, and which has underpinned European security ever since?

[00:06:34] Speaker 2: Well, I think Europeans are hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. And Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, she's talked about Europe really having to strive for this new independence. Now, that is a theme that has been sort of drawn out to varying degrees over the past few years. But they say they're absolutely certain that they're going to do that. Words are easy, though. And the fact remains that the US is obviously a huge trading partner of the European Union. But still, the reason why these European leaders until now have really bit their tongue and refused to to criticise Mr Trump out loud is because of the military support that America affords this continent. They simply need the Americans, not just at the moment for the future of Ukraine, but their own security. And so that's why they've been at pains to try and keep Mr Trump on side. But certainly the direction of travel that European leaders are talking about, the vast majority of them, is that Europe needs to be stronger, needs to be more independent and simply can't rely on the Americans in the future. Now, whether that extends beyond Mr Trump's remaining three years, we simply don't know. And they don't know whether this is an isolated blip. Maybe this was a nasty, uncomfortable moment a year into his second term, and things improve. But I think they've got to take the position that things could get a lot worse. And they have to be self-sufficient.

[00:08:00] Speaker 1: Nick, thank you. That was our Europe correspondent, Nick Beek, speaking to us from Brussels. And if you liked this episode, please subscribe to us here on YouTube. If you'd like us to cover any other stories, please leave a comment below. And if you want to hear more international news, you can always download our Global News podcast from wherever you get your podcasts.