Trump Tariff Threat Spurs Greenland, Denmark Protests (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: large protests in Greenland and Denmark as President Trump escalates his threats to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory. He ramped up the pressure on the Arctic Island today saying he'll impose new tariffs on Denmark and several other European countries unless a deal is reached to purchase Greenland. Today a large crowd of people taking to the streets in Greenland telling Trump their homeland is not for sale. The same message was heard in protests in several Danish cities earlier today with thousands taking part. A US delegation of bipartisan US lawmakers is in Copenhagen meeting with leaders from Denmark and Greenland. And amid the growing tension several European nations have sent military personnel to Greenland for joint exercises. We've got team coverage of these developments. We'll go to those protests in Greenland in a moment but let's begin with Betsy Klein and these new tariffs that President Trump is promising. Betsy, what more can you tell us.

[00:01:07] Speaker 2: Right, Frederico. During President Trump's second term we have seen him use tariffs and specifically the threat of tariffs as a key negotiating tool and he appears to be doing that right now with Greenland. That is the Arctic Island that is controlled by Denmark that Trump says the US needs to control for national security purposes to counter threats from both China and Russia. Its strategic placement in that Arctic region. This of course has spawned major pushback from Greenland, from Denmark and from other top European allies. With many deploying military personnel to the island this week and it could have significant economic impacts on those countries as well as top European countries that are key trading partners with the United States. The president had noted that he could use tariffs on these countries to apply some pressure but putting names and a number on it today in a post to social media. I want to read to you a little bit of that very lengthy post. He said starting on February 1st 2026 all of the above-mentioned countries Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will be charged a 10% tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st 2026 the tariff will be increased to 25%. This tariff will be due and payable until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland. Of course giving officials just two weeks, just under two weeks until February 1st to find some sort of negotiated agreement to avoid those pricey tariffs and there were meetings this week with top officials from Greenland, from Denmark along with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio to try to resolve this and they agreed to keep talking but there wasn't any clear resolution reached there. The president has also suggested that the possibility of leaving the NATO alliance remains on the table. Listen.

[00:03:12] Speaker 3: If it doesn't help you acquire Greenland. Well we're going to see. NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly. Yeah we're gonna, we're talking to NATO.

[00:03:26] Speaker 2: Now the new CNN poll indicates that this policy push does face stiff headwinds from the American public in addition to those protesters that we are seeing today in Greenland and in Denmark. 75% of Americans in that CNN poll say that they oppose Trump's efforts to take control of Greenland. Many of the president's own supporters are against this move so clearly he needs to do more to sell this unpopular policy to the American public.

[00:03:53] Speaker 1: Frederica. All right Betsy Klein, thank you so much. Let's go now to Greenland where we find Nick Robertson. So Nick tell us about these protests taking place in that country today.

[00:04:06] Speaker 4: Very popular protests by I think even conservative estimates. There's 20,000 people in this town and perhaps a third to maybe half of them came out on the streets and it was a very sort of simple message to the White House Greenland's not for sale. Ask anyone on the streets as we did today and that was the message. Dig down a little bit and you get flavors of what else they would like to see. They would like to see independence in the future for Greenland but it was very much sort of focused around families today. The Prime Minister came along. He told the local broadcaster here in Greenland that he had been in Denmark and he wanted to come back here. He's attending a lot of talks in Denmark but he wanted to be here to be part of the protests here. The protests marched all the way through the town and ended up right outside the U.S. consulate and there was the Prime Minister of Greenland on a snowy outcrop of rock right above the U.S. consulate waving a big Greenland flag, giving a big speech in Greenlandic to the people gathered there. There was somebody else, another politician there who was speaking a bit in English. Again that very simple clear message. Greenland is not for sale. We don't want to be part of the United States and I talked to some youngsters there as well. A group of people, young people, they were 20 years old. They told me in their first jobs and this is their future they're talking about and they told me how they felt about how many people they'd seen come out today with this message.

[00:05:50] Speaker 5: I did not expect so many to be here but it warms my heart to know that we are all united together to stand by and fight.

[00:06:00] Speaker 4: And what's your message to the president?

[00:06:05] Speaker 5: Our message is that Greenland is our country. We cannot be bought. We are people and he should stop whatever he's doing because we are the people of Greenland.

[00:06:22] Speaker 4: So what you can hear being shouted in the background there in the local language is Greenland, Greenland. The protests went on for about an hour and a half and every few minutes people would be chanting Greenland, Greenland. The fact that it ended outside the US consulate really part of that message to President Trump. But people I spoke to, those young people as well, they told me they're genuinely living in fear every night that this could be the last night that the US troops could come here. There's a genuine fear about that at the moment.

[00:06:57] Speaker 1: That fear palpable and the number, seen in the number of people who are turning out for those protests. Nick Robertson, thank you so much. Alright we're watching large protests take place in Greenland and Denmark today as President Trump escalates his threats to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Trump ramped up the pressure on the Arctic Island today saying he'll impose new tariffs on Denmark and several other European countries unless a deal is reached to purchase Greenland. The protesters in Greenland telling Trump today that their homeland is not for sale. The same message was heard in protests in several Danish cities earlier today with thousands taking part. A US delegation of bipartisan US lawmakers is in Copenhagen meeting with leaders from Denmark and Greenland and amid the growing tension, several European nations have sent military personnel to Greenland for joint exercises. CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us right now. Betsy, good to see you again. What more are you learning about these tariffs and Trump's threats to annex Greenland.

[00:08:06] Speaker 2: Well Federico, starting in his first term and steadily escalating ever since, President Trump has been emphatic that the US must have control of Greenland for national security purposes to combat rising threats from China, from Russia. This of course has spawned major pushback from Greenland, from Denmark which controls Greenland as well as top European allies and that escalated once more today when the president laid out a tiered tariff threat and this threatens to potentially rattle markets and really disrupt key trading partner relationships. I want to read to you from the president's post to social media. He says, starting on February 1st, 2026, all of the above mentioned countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, will be charged a 10% tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st, 2026, the tariff will be increased to 25%. This tariff will be due and payable until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland. Just under two weeks there, until February 1st, for those leaders to reach a deal with President Trump and we are hearing from top European officials expressing very stark concerns about the president's threat here. I would just remind you that a couple of days ago, Vice President J.D. Vance along with Secretary Marco Rubio met with top officials from Greenland, from Denmark and one of those officials, the Danish foreign minister, said in a statement that this comes as a surprise. He said that they had had productive discussions. We also heard from French President Emmanuel Macron. He said, quote, tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context. He warned that Europeans will respond in a coordinated manner. We heard from the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who says that this tariff strategy is, quote, completely wrong. We also heard from European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, who says that tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Now, as you mentioned, European countries have deployed a military presence to Greenland. They say that that is exactly because President Trump says that this Arctic island needs more security. They say they are doing what he is asking. And back here at home, as we are seeing those protests play out in Greenland and in Denmark, this is a deeply unpopular policy. 75% of Americans in a new CNN poll say that they oppose Trump's efforts to acquire Greenland, Frederica. All right, Betsy Cline, thanks so much.