00:00We want Europe to be strong. Ultimately, these are matters of national security and perhaps no
00:07current issue makes the situation more clear than what's currently going on with Greenland.
00:19Would you like me to say a few words of Greenland? I was going to leave it out of the speech,
00:25but I thought I think I would have been reviewed very negatively. I have tremendous respect for
00:33both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark. Tremendous respect. But every NATO ally
00:40has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory. And the fact is no nation or group of
00:46nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States. We're a
00:54great power, much greater than people even understand. I think they found that out two
00:58weeks ago in Venezuela. We saw this in World War II when Denmark fell to Germany after just
01:08six hours of fighting and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland. So the
01:15United States was then compelled. We did it. We felt an obligation to do it, to send our own forces to
01:22hold the Greenland territory and hold it. We did at great cost and expense. They didn't have a chance of
01:30getting on it. And they tried. Denmark knows that. We literally set up bases on Greenland for Denmark.
01:40We fought for Denmark. We weren't fighting for anyone else. We were fighting to save it
01:45for Denmark. Big, beautiful piece of ice. It's hard to call it land. It's a big piece of ice.
01:53But we saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold
01:59in our hemisphere. So we did it for ourselves also. And then after the war, which we won,
02:06we won it big without us. Right now, you'd all be speaking German and a little Japanese, perhaps.
02:13After the war, we gave Greenland back
02:18to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? But we did it. But we gave it back. But how ungrateful
02:28are they now? So now our country and the world face much greater risks than it did ever before because
02:37of missiles, because of nuclear, because of weapons of warfare that I can't even talk about.
02:45Two weeks ago, they saw weapons that nobody ever heard of. They weren't able to fire one shot at us.
02:50They said, what happened? Everything was discombobulated. They said, we've got them in our sights.
02:56Press the trigger. And nothing happened. No anti-aircraft missiles went up.
03:03There was one that went up about 30 feet and crashed down right next to the people that sent it.
03:09They said, what the hell is going on? Those defensive systems were made by Russia and by China.
03:18So they're going to go back to the drawing boards, I guess.
03:21Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory, sitting undefended
03:30in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China. That's exactly where it is,
03:37right smack in the middle. Wasn't important nearly when we gave it back. You know, when we gave it back,
03:44it wasn't the same as it is now. It's not important for any other reason, you know,
03:48that one talks about the minerals. There's so many places. There's no rare earth.
03:53No such thing as rare earth. There's rare processing. But there's so much rare earth.
03:58Strategic national security and international security. This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America
04:20on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere. That's our territory.
04:25It is therefore a core national security interest of the United States of America.
04:32And in fact, it's been our policy for hundreds of years to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere.
04:39And we've done it very successfully. We've never been stronger than we are now.
04:44That's why American presidents have sought to purchase Greenland for nearly two centuries.
04:50You know, for two centuries, they've been trying to do it. They should have kept it after World War II,
04:55but they had a different president. That's all right. People think differently.
05:00Much more necessary now than it was at that time, however.
05:04In 2019, Denmark said that they would spend over $200 million to strengthen Greenland's defenses.
05:12But as you know, they spent less than one percent of that amount. One percent. There's no sign of Denmark there.
05:19And I say that with great respect for Denmark, whose people I love, whose leaders are very good.
05:27It's the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice, develop it and improve it
05:35and make it so that it's good for Europe and safe for Europe and good for us.
05:40And that's the reason I'm seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States,
05:48just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history, as many of the European nations have.
05:55They've acquired. There's nothing wrong with it. Many of them. Some went in reverse, actually, if you look.
06:00Some had great, vast wealth, great, vast lands all over the world.
06:06They went in reverse. They're stuck back where they started. That happens, too.
06:12But some grow. But this would not be a threat to NATO.
06:17This would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance, the NATO alliance.
06:22The United States is treated very unfairly by NATO. I want to tell you that.
06:27And when you think about it, nobody can dispute it.
06:32We give so much and we get so little in return.
06:36And I've been a critic of NATO for many years.
06:40And yet I've done more to help NATO than any other president by far, than any other person.
06:45You wouldn't have NATO if I didn't get involved in my first term.
06:49And then I've done better of NATO.
06:51So it's really well.
06:52I'm going to try to achieve that, I'm going to try to do that now.
06:54This is a new one.
06:54This is a new one.
06:55This is a new one.
06:55I'm going to try to do that now.
06:57And I'm going to try to do that now.
06:58You want to talk more about NATO, NATO.
06:59You don't have to do this well.
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