00:00But first, there's this. The U.S. and Iran holding a third round of nuclear talks in Geneva
00:05today, negotiating the future of Tehran's nuclear program as the U.S. builds up its military force
00:11in the region. President Trump warning bad things, quote-unquote, could happen if Tehran
00:16does not agree to a deal. Maintaining he prefers a diplomatic solution, something he told me back
00:22in Davos and has been saying repeatedly. Iran's foreign minister, meanwhile, says an agreement
00:27is, quote, within reach. Meanwhile, NATO shifting air surveillance toward Iran, reflecting growing
00:32concerns over a potential U.S.-led military campaign. Joining me now, live from Brussels,
00:38is U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker. Ambassador, always a pleasure. Thanks very
00:42much for being here. It feels like things are spiking, the tensions rising. Are we going to
00:48see strikes on Iran? Well, first of all, President Trump was clear in the State of the Union that he
00:55prefers diplomacy. But he has all the options on the table, and he holds all the cards. I mean,
01:01we've demonstrated in Midnight Hammer that when President Trump draws a red line, that he's
01:07willing to enforce that. And he's right. That would be a bad day for Iran if we get to a
01:14kinetic
01:14solution. But the options are on the table right now to make a diplomatic deal, to agree to never have
01:22a nuclear weapon. Because we cannot let the number one state sponsor of terrorism and a real menace to
01:28the region have capabilities to bring nuclear Armageddon. And so we just have to get this resolved
01:36diplomatically. But again, President Trump is in a position of strength right now to negotiate this
01:41deal. How do our NATO allies feel about all of this? Well, we're allies, which means that we
01:48support each other. And in this case, all of our allies are willing to support the United States
01:55of America and to do what's necessary, some more loudly than others. But right now, this is a United
02:02States of America effort. But we have a lot of allies in the region and in Europe here that are
02:07willing to support us in whatever it takes. Well, look, I'm worried about and the viewers are
02:12worried about Russia and China. Meanwhile, NATO reportedly falling behind Russia and China in the
02:16race to build up icebreakers and other tools critical for the potential war in the Arctic.
02:22Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is renewing President Trump's calls to take on Greenland,
02:27to take it, calling it a strategic vital asset for the U.S. economy and national security.
02:32The secretary, of course, will join me at 8 a.m. Eastern, and he's going to talk more about that
02:35this morning. But where are the NATO allies at this point? Is this off the table or is this still
02:40a
02:40consideration for the United States to use Greenland as a critical security spot? I know the president
02:48has discussed wanting to build part of his Golden Dome on Greenland.
02:53Yeah, obviously, Greenland is a critical part of North American security. We have a high-level
02:59working group that's negotiating trilaterally with the United States, Denmark, and Greenland
03:03to make sure that all of our concerns are worked through. We also have announced an Arctic sentry
03:12here at NATO, which is the Supreme Allied Commander Europe is cohering all of the capabilities. But
03:18there are things like icebreakers, submarine hunting airplanes, you know, deep water sensors that we got
03:25to make sure not only do we know what everybody has and is bringing, but make sure that if we
03:29have gaps
03:30and we have capability challenges, that we can address those in the near term. Remember, we got
03:37the 5 percent, not just as a political statement, we got the 5 percent because that means capabilities.
03:42That means icebreakers and sub-hunting airplanes and Arctic troops that train. I was up in Norway
03:49about a month ago and saw our Navy SEALs that were training, that were in the cold, difficult Arctic
03:55circle conditions. And the reason is, is to your point, China and Russia are active in the region.
04:01China is ambitious in that region. And we need to make sure that we're matching that, protecting our
04:07interest, protecting the alliance's interest. And that's going to mean real capabilities and really
04:11real money spent on those capabilities. Well, I mean, look, the issues came up, obviously,
04:15when you were recently in Munich at the Munich Security Conference. And you, we all watched you
04:20sitting there on stage with New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When she came back,
04:25she faced massive pushback after the rambling answer, the word salad that she answered about
04:30the question over China and Taiwan and whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan. Well, let's take a look at
04:36that. I want to get your take. Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend
04:43Taiwan
04:44if China were to move? Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, uh, you know, I,
04:54I think that
04:56this is a, um, this is of course a, uh, a very longstanding, um, policy of the United States. Uh,
05:08and I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to
05:13that point.
05:14And we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global
05:20positions to avoid any such confrontation. And for that question to even arise.
05:26Well, you were sitting there, Ambassador. What were you thinking?
05:31I think there's an obvious answer to that question. First of all, it's about
05:35deterrence, defense, and peace through strength. And, you know, President Trump, uh, has been executing
05:40that policy, talked about, you know, the first island chain and how our, our allies in the region
05:45need to be strong, like Japan, you know, the 5% that we got accomplished at the Hague here at
05:50NATO
05:51has now become the world standard of defense spending and capabilities in Taiwanese, Japanese,
05:57Philippines, uh, and, and other countries in the region are, are ramping up their spending.
06:01United States through our Indo-PACOM command is obviously spending a lot of time on deterrence
06:07and denial, but, you know, we need to make sure that our allies are strong, that our, those
06:12relationships are strong. And that strength is what's ultimately going to guarantee the peace.
06:16And so that China doesn't make a move on Taiwan and the United States has, has, has had, um,
06:23an ambiguous, uh, attitude towards Taiwan and our defense of Taiwan. But, you know,
06:29we're making sure obviously they were strong and our allies are strong and that the United States
06:33is equally strong. Was she, was she not briefed on that?
06:39I, I don't know what her preparation was for that, but I think that, you know, the United States,
06:44uh, through Democrats and Republicans have been very clear about where that, uh, you know,
06:49the United States is on that position. And so I don't know if she just, uh, couldn't find the
06:54right words or if she just wasn't prepared, you know, Munich security conference is where you go
06:58to demonstrate your national security chops to demonstrate you understand how everything fits
07:04together. And so for her to have an answer, that just wasn't that answer. We also had, you know,
07:09Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor was also on that panel and both of them struggled with sort
07:13of these basic and fundamental answers. Uh, and so, you know, I'm glad that I was able there to
07:18defend the president's position and what the United States is doing right now. We watched that as well.
07:22Ambassadors, good to see you. Thanks very much. Ambassador Matthew Whitaker in Brussels. We'll be right back.
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