00:00for joining us today. Like you, I attended the Munich Security Conference earlier this year,
00:04and in a meeting that I had with several European prime ministers and several of your colleagues
00:09within the administration, your colleagues recognized that NATO is both bigger and better
00:14funded today than it was 10 years ago. And I am fully willing to admit that that is a byproduct
00:20of several factors, including Putin's aggression, previous administrations, and indeed a byproduct
00:25of actions by this administration and this president's first term as well. But I want to
00:31focus in today on statements and actions that I believe go beyond pressuring and leverage and
00:36actually fundamentally undermine the foundation of NATO. On January 21st of this year in the
00:42president's speech in Davos, he said we, quote, never got anything from NATO. Two months later,
00:48the president said on Truth Social, speaking of NATO, they will do nothing for us. Mr. Secretary,
00:54do you share the president's assessment that we, quote, never got anything from NATO?
00:59Well, I think what the president was speaking to at that moment, and was what I'll speak to you
01:02about now, is one of the reasons why I've been such a strong supporter of NATO is because they allow
01:07us
01:07to use these bases, because it allows us in a time of contingency, like the one in Germany and others.
01:12And for the first time, we see NATO countries denying us the use of their bases, which undermines
01:17the purpose of our involvement. Mr. Secretary, these statements, including the one we never got
01:21anything from NATO, happened before the war in Iran, which falls outside of the Article 5 invocation.
01:27It falls outside of a war of defense. Do you share the president's assessment that we, quote,
01:35never, never got anything from NATO? I share the president's assessment that on issues that are a
01:40priority to the United States. I'll take that as you disagree with his assessment that we never got
01:44anything from NATO, because, Mr. Secretary, let me, reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary,
01:48Mr. Secretary, I'm asking very specifically about a specific quote. I'm not asking whether NATO can
01:53be better or reformed. I'm asking if we never got anything from NATO. And I want to specifically ask
01:58you, Mr. Secretary. Well, why are you asking me if I can't answer? You're not answering the question
02:03that I'm asking. You're answering a different question about whether NATO can be better or reformed.
02:07And so I'm going to move on, Mr. Secretary. Are you aware that the only time Article 5 has ever
02:12been
02:12invoked is after 9-11 in defense of the United States? Of course I'm aware of that, yeah. And are
02:17you aware that more than a thousand Europeans died in the subsequent war on terror that was invoked
02:24after? They participated in the Middle East, correct. And I assume you're aware that the NATO ally that
02:30lost more service members per capita is Denmark? Well, Denmark, I thought it was that the UK had
02:38suffered more. More per capita. Okay, gotcha. And I assume you're aware that Greenland is
02:42indeed part of Denmark. For now. Okay. Well, I want to focus in on Greenland. I joined the bipartisan
02:51bicameral trip to Copenhagen as the administration that you're a part of sought to seize Greenland.
02:57In the president's speech at Davos, he said, referring to Greenland, quote, you need ownership
03:03to defend it. Mr. Secretary, does the United States need to own land within NATO to defend it? Well, the
03:09truth be told,
03:09we are actually involved in conversations with Greenland and Denmark on the use of Denmark for
03:14on the use of Greenland for collective defense for all of us. It's a key part of missile defense,
03:19but we're involved in those talks right now. So I think we're in a good place on it now. But
03:24I don't
03:24want to put stuff out there in the public record that would undermine the conversations we're having
03:28with them on it. So specifically, I'm not, I'm not asking about whether we're going to do more within
03:34Greenland for our collective defense. I think all of us share that goal, including Denmark and
03:38Greenlandic people. But do does the United States need to own land within NATO to defend it? That's
03:46what the president said. And that was the justification for those statements and the attempt to seize
03:50Greenland several months ago. The president's view is that it's a lot easier to defend it when you have
03:54control and complete control of it. We are obviously having conversations about Denmark and Greenland.
03:59They're ongoing on a monthly basis. Now, I think we'll have pretty good news. So I take that as you
04:04disagree with the literal words of the president of the United States. And I want to put a finer point.
04:08I think he's right. If we owned it, it would be easier to defend it.
04:09That's not what he said. He said, you need to own it to defend it, which fundamentally undermines
04:14the central tenet of Article 5 of NATO, which states that the parties agree that an armed attack
04:20against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against all
04:24of them. And if such an armed attack occurs, each of them will assist the party or parties attacked.
04:28So sitting here with, I'm sure, many leaders across Europe within NATO and many leaders beyond
04:35including Vladimir Putin, potentially watching the words and listening to the words that you
04:39are saying. Can you reassure our NATO allies and make it clear to Vladimir Putin that if
04:44a NATO ally is attacked and Article 5 is invoked, that we will defend them?
04:51The United States is still in the NATO alliance and we'll be there in Turkey to talk about all
04:55these topics. The president himself will be attending the next NATO meeting of heads of state, where all
05:01these points will be made clear. We're still in NATO, but NATO needs significant changes and
05:05the president has made that clear. And he is very disappointed in NATO.
05:08Representative Self is recognized.
05:09Thank you very much.
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