00:00They put up a couple of big wind farms, but they don't use them.
00:04They just put them up to show people what they could look like.
00:08They don't spin. They don't do anything.
00:10They use a thing called coal, mostly.
00:13But China goes with the coal. They go with oil and gas.
00:19They're starting to look at nuclear a little bit.
00:22And they're doing just fine.
00:24They make a fortune selling the windmills, though.
00:26And I think, really, that's one that they wouldn't be surprised if it stopped.
00:31They are shocked that it continues to go.
00:34They're very friendly with me.
00:36They're shocked that people continue to buy those damn things.
00:39They killed the birds. They ruined your landscapes.
00:42Other than that, I think they're fabulous, by the way.
00:45Stupid people buy them.
00:47The consequences of such destructive policies have been stark,
00:51including lower economic growth, lower standards of living, lower birth rates,
00:55more socially disruptive migration,
00:59more vulnerability to hostile foreign adversaries,
01:03and much, much smaller militaries.
01:07The United States cares greatly about the people of Europe.
01:11We really do.
01:12I mean, look, I am derived from Europe.
01:15Scotland and Germany, 100% Scotland, my mother, 100% German, my father.
01:25And we believe deeply in the bonds we share with Europe as a civilization.
01:31I want to see it do great.
01:33That's why issues like energy trade, immigration, and economic growth
01:37must be central concerns to anyone who wants to see a strong and united West
01:43because Europe and those countries have to do their thing.
01:47They have to get out of the culture that they've created over the last 10 years.
01:52It's horrible what they're doing to themselves.
01:54They're destroying themselves.
01:55It's beautiful, beautiful places.
01:57We want strong allies, not seriously weakened ones.
02:01We want Europe to be strong.
02:04Ultimately, these are matters of national security,
02:07and perhaps no current issue makes the situation more clear
02:15than what's currently going on with Greenland.
02:20Would you like me to say a few words of Greenland?
02:23I was going to leave it out of the speech,
02:26but I thought I think I would have been reviewed very negatively.
02:32I have tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland
02:36and the people of Denmark, tremendous respect.
02:40But every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory,
02:45and the fact is no nation or group of nations is in any position
02:49to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States.
02:55We're a great power, much greater than people even understand.
02:58I think they found that out two weeks ago in Venezuela.
03:03We saw this in World War II when Denmark fell to Germany
03:08after just six hours of fighting
03:11and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland.
03:15So the United States was then compelled.
03:19We did it.
03:20We felt an obligation to do it,
03:21to send our own forces to hold the Greenland territory.
03:26And hold it, we did, at great cost and expense.
03:30They didn't have a chance of getting on it, and they tried.
03:35Denmark knows that.
03:37We literally set up bases on Greenland for Denmark.
03:41Denmark, we fought for Denmark.
03:43We weren't fighting for anyone else.
03:45We were fighting to save it for Denmark.
03:49Big, beautiful piece of ice.
03:51It's hard to call it land.
03:52It's a big piece of ice.
03:55But we saved Greenland
03:56and successfully prevented our enemies
03:59from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere.
04:03So we did it for ourselves also.
04:05And then after the war, which we won,
04:08we won it big without us.
04:11Right now, you'd all be speaking German
04:13and a little Japanese, perhaps.
04:17After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark.
04:22How stupid were we to do that?
04:25But we did it.
04:27But we gave it back.
04:29But how ungrateful are they now?
04:31So now our country and the world
04:35face much greater risks than it did ever before
04:38because of missiles, because of nuclear,
04:42because of weapons of warfare
04:44that I can't even talk about.
04:46Two weeks ago, they saw weapons
04:48that nobody ever heard of.
04:50They weren't able to fire one shot at us.
04:52They said, what happened?
04:53Everything was discombobulated.
04:55They said, we've got them in our sights.
04:58Press the trigger.
04:59And nothing happened.
04:59No anti-aircraft missiles went up.
05:05There was one that went up about 30 feet
05:08and crashed down right next to the people
05:10that sent it.
05:10They said, what the hell is going on?
05:14Those defensive systems were made by Russia
05:18and by China.
05:20So they're going to go back
05:21to the drawing boards, I guess.
05:23Greenland is a vast, almost entirely
05:26uninhabited and undeveloped territory.
05:29Sitting undefended in a key strategic location
05:35between the United States, Russia, and China.
05:37That's exactly where it is, right smack in the middle.
05:41Wasn't important, nearly, when we gave it back.
05:44You know, when we gave it back,
05:46it wasn't the same as it is now.
05:47It's not important for any other reason.
05:49You know, everyone talks about the minerals.
05:51There's so many places.
05:52There's no rare earth.
05:54No such thing as rare earth.
05:56There's rare processing.
05:58But there's so much rare earth.
06:01And this, to get to this rare earth,
06:03you've got to go through hundreds of feet of ice.
06:07That's not the reason we need it.
06:09We need it for strategic national security
06:13and international security.
06:16This enormous, unsecured island
06:18is actually part of North America
06:20on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere.
06:24That's our territory.
06:25It is therefore a core national security interest
06:29of the United States of America.
06:31And in fact, it's been our policy for hundreds of years
06:35to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere.
06:39And we've done it very successfully.
06:41We've never been stronger than we are now.
06:43That's why American presidents have sought to purchase Greenland
06:47for nearly two centuries.
06:50You know, for two centuries, they've been trying to do it.
06:52They should have kept it after World War II,
06:55but they had a different president.
06:57That's all right.
06:58People think differently.
07:00Much more necessary now than it was at that time, however.
07:04In 2019, Denmark said that they would spend
07:07over $200 million to strengthen Greenland's defenses.
07:12But as you know, they spent less than 1% of that amount.
07:161%.
07:16There's no sign of Denmark there.
07:19And I say that with great respect for Denmark,
07:21whose people I love, whose leaders are very good.
07:26It's the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land,
07:31this giant piece of ice, develop it and improve it,
07:35and make it so that it's good for Europe,
07:37and safe for Europe, and good for us.
07:40And that's the reason I'm seeking immediate negotiations
07:43to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States,
07:47just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history,
07:52as many of the European nations have.
07:54They've acquired.
07:55There's nothing wrong with it.
07:57Many of them.
07:58Some went in reverse, actually, if you look.
08:00Some had great, vast wealth,
08:03great, vast lands all over the world.
08:06They went in reverse.
08:07They're stuck back where they started.
08:09That happens, too.
08:11But some grow.
08:13But this would not be a threat to NATO.
08:16This would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance,
08:21the NATO alliance.
08:22The United States is treated very unfairly by NATO.
08:26I want to tell you that when you think about it,
08:30nobody can dispute it.
08:31We give so much, and we get so little in return.
08:36And I've been a critic of NATO for many years.
08:39And yet I've done more to help NATO than any other president by far,
08:43than any other person.
08:44You wouldn't have NATO.
Comments