Trump Renews Greenland Bid in Davos, Rules Out Force (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: President Trump standing before the world and putting it on notice. He's not backing off at all in terms of his ambition to take control of Greenland, but says it will be through negotiation.

[00:00:11] Speaker 2: And just minutes ago, he wrapped up his much-anticipated speech at the World Economic Forum. He delivered his clearest statement yet that he will not use military force to seize the Danish territory, but reiterated his desire to take over Greenland. He also slammed the NATO military alliance and American allies, calling his demand for Greenland a, quote, small ask.

[00:00:35] Speaker 3: We never asked for anything, and we never got anything. We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won't do that, OK? Now everyone's saying, oh, good. That's probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force. I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.

[00:01:10] Speaker 1: We're covering all the angles of this very important developing story. CNN anchor and chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is on the scene for us in Davos. CNN international diplomatic editor Nick Robertson is in Greenland. Kaitlan, let me start with you. The president spoke for more than an hour, and now he's been answering some questions. What stood out to you from the speech, and what is he going to do next?

[00:01:33] Speaker 4: Well, Wolf, I'm standing right outside the room where the president just spoke. These guests that are coming out behind me are people who were just listening to the president's speech here at Davos as he was addressing those at the Congress Center. So we'll see if there's anyone notable inside this group that is coming out to get their reaction to what they made of what President Trump had to say. But I think he kind of set the tone, Wolf, as soon as he got on stage, where he greeted not only his friends, but his enemies, and then moments later cut to the heart of something that has roiled this entire conference here in Davos, which were the president's comments yesterday when it came to Greenland. The president said today that he wants to immediately start negotiations to seek the U.S. acquisition of Greenland. But he also made his clearest statements yet, Wolf, saying that the United States, he does not plan to take Greenland using military force to do so. Now, of course, that is something that's been raised. The president was saying that if the United States wanted to, they could. And he also invoked the relationship between Denmark and the United States in the 1940s amid World War II, when the United States was putting bases on Greenland as Denmark was occupied by the Nazis. And the president was basically citing that as a reason why he believes the United States has rights to Greenland, as he was making the case for why the United States should have it. I'll tell you, Wolf, there was a little bit of laughter in the room at some point as the president's remarks first got underway. That all changed, though, after he started to delve into the Greenland territory. Then he also ripped NATO and said that the United States has only used NATO to protect European countries from the Soviet Union, now from Russia. He also was highly critical of one of the United States' top allies, Canada, criticizing the prime minister, Mark Carney, for his speech that he gave, basically saying that they need to make themselves independent from the United States. He said that Canada only has its lives because of the United States. And so, obviously, a lot of loaded remarks there from President Trump as he was addressing these world leaders who were gathered here and a lot of the policymakers who were here and the president naming some of them specifically there, Wolf.

[00:03:35] Speaker 1: Yeah, I've heard a lot of speeches from American presidents at this World Economic Forum in Davos. I've never heard an American president specifically blast individual NATO-allied leaders by name, Emmanuel Macron of France, for example, Mark Carney of Canada, among others. He really went off against them. And he also went off at NATO, saying NATO has never really done anything for the United States. The United States has always been treated unfairly by NATO. And then he said Denmark cannot really ensure the security of Greenland because it simply can't. He was very critical of all these NATO allies. I've never heard a president speak at Davos along those kinds of lines. It was pretty significant, Pamela.

[00:04:20] Speaker 2: And it was. And of course, he didn't mention the fact that the only time Article 5 was invoked was after 9-11 and the war on terror. And many of these countries, including Denmark, sent their soldiers in to fight, right, to fight on behalf of the American states in the war on terror in places like Afghanistan. In fact, Denmark lost, is one of the highest per capita losses of soldiers in that war compared to other countries. So that context was missing when he said that NATO has never done anything for the United States. I want to bring in our Nick Robertson and hear what you thought about this speech. And what are you hearing there on the ground in Greenland about it?

[00:04:56] Speaker 5: Yeah, there's a lot to break down in there, isn't there? Because on the one hand, he's saying to the people of Greenland, I'm not going to invade you and take you by force. And I've talked to people here, and they say, OK, that's something. But can we really trust this U.S. president? I think trust is low there. But he's still saying a thing that all the people of Greenland or the vast, vast majority are absolutely opposed to. He still wants to take control of Greenland. Immediate negotiations is what he's talking about. People here don't want that. So they're still living with a very real threat of something happening that is against their wishes. And then the other thing that people have told me here is, well, how much are the Europeans going to back us up? And this has sort of been a background concern that had been sort of put to one side, if you will, because the support coming from Europe had been very, very strong. But people here have listened, as we all have, to the president berate Europe as a whole, that it's going backwards, that it can't be anything without the United States essentially saying, Europe, you really are going to have to roll with me on this, berating, as we've been saying, individual leaders, Emmanuel Macron. Macron, by the way, who has asked for NATO to step up its military training here around Greenland, involving the warship behind me here, as part of a signal and a show of how NATO can provide security around Greenland, that it doesn't have to be owned by President Trump to do that. So this really sort of gives people here in Greenland cause for concern, because their strongest allies are being berated and belittled by President Trump. And that says to them, well, are they going to stand up against that?

[00:06:42] Speaker 1: And so far, we understand— Nick, hold on for a second. President Trump is answering some questions from the news media there. I want to listen in.

[00:06:52] Speaker 3: Well, we have seen the numbers, we've seen the records, and it is taking place.

[00:07:35] Speaker 1: All right. So there you see the president. He's walking away from where he was speaking for well more than an hour at this Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland. Now he's moving on. Caitlin Collins, we heard from her. Nick Robertson. Christiane Amanpour is with us as well, our chief international anchor. Christiane, what was the most notable thing that you heard in this speech by the president?

[00:07:59] Speaker 6: Well, Wolf, as you've all said, you know, this was an hour and 12 minutes, just about, of the usual sort of Trumpian discourse, on script, off script, talking about all sorts of different things. But clearly, as we all know, the biggest sigh of relief would have come after he made that statement that you've all read out, that I don't want to use force, I don't have to use force, I won't use force. So the immediate threat of a blue-on-blue, in my words, war in Europe, i.e. NATO against NATO over Greenland, appears to have been put aside for the moment by President Trump. Now, the next thing, is there going to be an economic war? Because when he says, I want to start discussions with all our partners immediately on the acquisition of Greenland, that is a sort of a follow-up or a preamble to what he's already done, which is threaten economic tariffs on Britain and other European nations, that doesn't want to go into this business of trying to offer Trump the issue of Greenland. So that, he didn't mention tariffs in this speech. So is there going to be some kind of economic punishment towards those Europeans if they don't come up with the goods? And for his part, the goods mean giving us control of Greenland. You know, he distorted history a bit when he talked about owning Greenland back in the Second World War. It wasn't owning Greenland. It's very true that the Americans stepped up their military presence there and at the height of the Cold War. But it was always in treaty with Denmark, and that sort of, you know, went its way when the Cold War ended. So, yes, there are security issues. Christian, hold on for a second.

[00:09:39] Speaker 1: I hate to interrupt, but Caitlin Collins got some news. Caitlin, you got a guest.

[00:09:46] Speaker 4: Yeah, well, thank you so much for standing, obviously, outside the room. And I would love to know what you thought of the President's speech, given you were obviously a very prominent U.S. policymaker. And what did you make of hearing it from the U.S. perspective, given so many of the European friends that are in the room?

[00:10:00] Speaker 7: Well, I think it was a classic Trump performance. I would hate to be the fact checker that had to go through that speech. But I think there was one element of the speech that I would interpret as a positive. I think perhaps because of the stock market's reaction yesterday, he appeared to back down from his previous threat to use military force to acquire Greenland. And if I'm interpreting that correctly, I think that's a good thing. It was, of course, crazy that he would do such a thing in the first place. But I think he backed down, and that's good.