Donald Trump came to Davos on Wednesday and told the US’s NATO allies not to get in his way as he tried to acquire Greenland.
The President ruled out conquering the Arctic island by force in a speech that lasted more than an hour. Instead, he used his seat on the main platform to urge for “immediate negotiations” for the “acquisition.”
He stated that his country had saved the “big beautiful piece of ice” from Germany during World War II, but that the “stupid” US had “given it back” to Denmark, who should be “grateful.”
Mr. Trump claimed he wanted all “rights, title, and ownership” of the island, even though he called the semi-autonomous area “Iceland” four times by mistake. He stated, “You say yes, and we will be very grateful,” but he also said, “You say no, and we will remember.”
After his speech, he went to a meeting with Mark Rutte, the head of NATO. When he came out on Wednesday night, he said he had made a deal, but he didn’t give any information about what his “framework” would look like.
Mr. Trump held the Swiss business forum’s attention for 72 minutes in the afternoon, just after his delayed flight from Washington and looking tired from it. He went off script and went off on tangents, which is something he regularly does in speeches.
He made fun of the aviator sunglasses that French president Emmanuel Macron wore the day before to hide an eye ailment. He called Europe “unrecognizable,” called “Somali bandits,” and said he wanted to bring back warships from World War II.
It took him about 20 minutes to get to the point, but the issue that bothered the leader of the free world the most was Greenland.
In a speech that lasted more than an hour, the President of the United States said that conquering the Arctic by force was not an option. Instead, he used his time on the main platform to call for “immediate negotiations” for the “acquisition.”
The US President spoke for more than an hour and said that the US will not take the Arctic by force. Instead, he used his time on stage to urge for “immediate negotiations” for the “acquisition.”
He said that America wants “strong allies, not seriously weakened ones,” and he called out Britain for not using North Sea oil.
He claimed that Europe needs to “get out of the culture they’ve built over the past ten years.” They need to have a handle on “energy, trade, immigration, and economic growth” if they want a “strong and united West.”
Then, he shifted his attention to the topic that world leaders had been preparing for, teasing the 2,300 delegates who were crammed into Davos’ congress hall.He remarked, “There’s no current issue that makes the situation clearer than what’s going on in Greenland.” He paused for impact and then said with a smile, “I was going to leave it out of the speech, but I thought it would get a lot of bad reviews.”
Mr. Trump said he has “tremendous respect” for both the people of Greenland and Denmark, but he also said that “every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory.”The truth is that only the United States can protect Greenland. No other country or combination of countries can do it. He said, “We’re a great power, much greater than people even know.”
Mr. Trump backed up his allegation by reminding Denmark that it “fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting” in World War II. The US had to send troops to keep Greenland, but “after the war, which we won big… we gave Greenland back to Denmark.”How dumb were we to do that?”Why?” he wondered, since the island is “right smack in the middle” of the US, China, and Russia.
Trump then made fun of French President Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses, which he wore the day before to hide an eye ailment.
Mr. Trump called Greenland, which is home to approximately 60,000 people, a “vast, almost completely uninhabited and undeveloped territory.”
He denied claims that he simply wants the island for its prized rare earth metals, stating it is for “international security,” even though the US can send its own forces to the island.
He added that only the US could make it “safe for Europe and good for us.” “That’s why I’m asking for immediate talks to talk about the US buying Greenland again.”
During his harsh onslaught on allies, the only time he let up was when he said for the first time that he wouldn’t take the land by force.
Mr. Trump added of Greenland, “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable.” He had already complained about NATO, saying, “We give so much and get so little in return.” But I won’t do that, okay? That’s probably the most important thing I’ve said. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to employ violence. “I won’t use force.”
On Wednesday night, even his friend Nigel Farage stated that the US should take Greenland because it would make the globe a “better, safer place.” However, he also said that “you must respect the rights and views of the Greenlanders.”
After 9/11, the US was the only country to use Article 5 of the NATO agreement (an attack on one is an attack on all), and hundreds of soldiers and women perished in Afghanistan fighting America’s war as 35 member states answered the call.
“The problem with NATO is that we’ll be there for them 100 percent, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us,” he remarked.
Then, even though he had almost ruined relations between countries over Greenland, he called it Iceland four times.”They’re not there for us on Iceland,” he claimed. “I mean, Iceland was the reason our stock market went down for the first time on Wednesday. So Iceland has already cost us a lot of money.
He claimed of NATO, “They loved me until the last few days when I told them about Iceland.”
He claimed that asking for the “piece of ice” is “a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.”
This would be “just like how we’ve taken over many other lands in our history,” much like “many of the European nations have.” He also stated he will meet with Volodymyr Zelensky and seeks a deal to stop the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
But he was very critical of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had given a speech earlier in which he criticized the idea of “great powers” employing economic force to get what they want. “Canada gets a lot of free stuff from us,” Mr. Trump remarked. “I saw your prime minister on Wednesday.” He wasn’t really thankful.They should thank us. The United States keeps Canada alive. Mark, keep that in mind the next time you speak.
He also made fun of Mr. Macron, who on Tuesday wore aviator sunglasses like those in the movie “Top Gun” because of an eye issue and gave a forceful speech against “bullies.”Mr. Trump said, “I saw him [on Wednesday] with those nice sunglasses.” “What the hell happened?”
Then he pretended to have the French president’s accent and said, “I saw him be tough,” before telling how he had made Mr. Macron and other European governments back down on drug pricing, which was a clear threat about Greenland. He said, “I really like him,” about Mr. Macron. “Isn’t it hard to believe?”
He then went after Switzerland in the same way, adding that “they make beautiful watches” yet “pay nothing” when they send Rolexes to the US.
He said he could raise tariffs on Swiss companies back up to 39%, but “I don’t want to hurt people.”
Mr. Trump ended his address in a strange way by saying that he intended to fix up America’s “great big gorgeous” battleships from World War II until he was told that modern ones are “100 times more powerful.”
The President said he was “cutting crime down to nothing” in the US before directing his anger on “Somalian bandits,” which is something he says a lot. You know, they’re pirates. They’re good pirates, but we shoot them out of the water just like we do drug vessels.
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