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Trump on His Push to Take Over Greenland; Economic Forum Off to Tense Start; Trump Marks One Year in Office Since Start of Second Term. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired January 20, 2026 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, President Trump doubling down on his push to acquire Greenland just hours ahead of a major meeting with global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't think they're going to push back too much. Look, we have to have it. They have to have this done. They can't protect it. Denmark, they're wonderful people. And I know the leaders are very good people, but they don't even go there. And, you know, because the boat went there 500 years ago and then left, that doesn't give you title to property. So, we'll be talking about it with the various people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And joining us now, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ambassador Kurt Volker. Ambassador, thanks so much for joining us. You're there in Davos. President Trump overnight shared a text message from the French President Emmanuel Macron that said in part, and I'm quoting him now, "I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland," end quote. What do you make of this latest text message now released by the president, President Trump and the president of France?
KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS AND DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS: Yes. Well, first off, president of France can't be very happy that President Trump is sharing his text messages publicly. But that being said, I think President Macron was saying it very genuinely. Talking to Europeans here in Davos and earlier this past 10 days or so in Brussels and in London, people simply don't understand why President Trump thinks he needs to own Greenland. We recognize that Greenland is part of Danish territory by treaty.
Denmark recognizes that the U.S. has the right to put any military facilities on Greenland that we feel that we need to. We have that agreement with them. And Europeans are prepared to help. They're prepared to provide host nation support, to provide some additional forces or some additional capabilities. So, everyone is ready to work with the United States. And yet President Trump is insisting on owning it without having to find specifically what it is that he needs to do.
BLITZER: Ambassador, let me play for you and for our viewers out there what President Macron of France said this morning. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: And conflict has become normalized, hybrid, expanding into new demands, space, digital information, cyber, trade, and so on. It's as well a shift towards a world without rules, where international law is trampled underfoot and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:35:00]
BLITZER: How concerning are his comments, you think?
VOLKER: Well, I think he is showing that he is very concerned. And we've heard comments from President Trump and from Stephen Miller talking about spheres of influence, talking about how there are no laws. It is the law of the powerful. the iron law force that decides everything, that is very, very concerning to Europeans who have built a relationship of trust with the United States and where the U.S. has invested for decades in building the largest, freest, most democratic, most prosperous, secure space in the world, this transatlantic area, which is allied with the United States.
So, to be tearing all that up and saying, no, it's just the rule of those who are strongest, that is very, very concerning to Europe.
BLITZER: One European official says the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, a Trump confidant, seems convinced the deal is possible to give the president an off-ramp. Do you believe there is a feasible off-ramp right now for President Trump?
VOLKER: Well, if he wants it, yes, there is. President Trump has identified two issues that he says are important. One of them is security in the Arctic, and only the U.S. can provide that, and the U.S. needs to have unfettered access and do what it needs to do. That can be done already under the 1951 treaty with Denmark.
The second thing he identified is access to mineral resources in Greenland. Again, there is no obstacle to U.S. access to mineral resources in Greenland other than the ice sheet that covers the island. So, it is expensive and difficult, but there's no other impediment, legal or political or otherwise.
So, if we come up with a formula that identifies and specifies the U.S. has these rights to do anything it needs to militarily for security of North America, to access mineral rights there, and we could even go so far as to suggest that the bases that the U.S. has in Greenland, we can have more of them. We used to have 17. We're down to one. We can build back up again if we want to. And those bases could even be sovereign U.S. territory, but not all of Greenland and the people of Greenland who do not want to be part of the United States.
BLITZER: In referring to President Trump's aspirations to acquire Greenland, the Danish foreign minister told reporters, and I'm quoting him now, there are red lines which can't be crossed. What do you believe those red lines are?
VOLKER: Sovereignty. It is the United States forcibly taking away territory from a NATO ally. That would be unacceptable to Denmark and unacceptable to the people of Greenland who do not want to be part of the United States. So, insisting or demanding or just, frankly, de facto taking Greenland, that would be a huge red line for Denmark and for, frankly, all of our European allies.
And I just have to point out the NATO treaty is about protecting the territory of all our NATO allies, including the United States. It was invoked only once when the United States was attacked by our allies to support the United States. And if we begin taking territory away from our allies, we can basically say the NATO alliance is over.
BLITZER: I want to play for you and for our viewers what the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, said in an interview this morning on a British news station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm here to encourage our friends and calm the situation. Look, I think we're going to get beyond this little rift. I don't think it's a threat to NATO or to this special relationship that we have in the long run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What does it say to you, Ambassador, that Speaker Johnson is trying to calm the waters and is playing down the fears over President Trump's possible actions in Greenland?
VOLKER: Well, look, I think that he's right to try to do that, that we don't want to see Europe retaliate against the United States. These tariffs were announced. Let's hope that they're not implemented. Let's see how the U.S. and Danish delegations meet and discuss.
Remember, the Danish foreign minister and Greenlandic foreign minister met with Secretary of State Rubio and Vice President Vance last week. They agreed to set up a high-level working group. They agreed to keep talking. If they can come up with a formula that satisfies the United States' substantive requirements, militarily, economically, politically, then that would be a soft landing. And where we should aim to go?
The problem has been President Trump's insistence on simply the idea of ownership. I think we should put that aside, talk about what we really need, and then get that. And that would be a great victory for President Trump.
BLITZER: The former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ambassador Kurt Volker, thanks so much for joining us.
VOLKER: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Coming up, one year in President Trump's first 12 months in office. On this, his second term, marked by escalating tensions at home and abroad. What his priorities could tell us about his plans for the rest of his time in office.
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[10:40:00]
BLITZER: Happening now, today marks one year of President Trump's second term. The president last night called the year, and I'm quoting him now, he said it was "amazing," pointing to his administration's immigration crackdown and economic achievements.
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TRUMP: I don't think there's been a term like it. I don't think any president has had a better first year than we've had in terms of success. Again, we've taken our country from a failure.
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[10:45:00]
BLITZER: But new CNN polling finds President Trump has the lowest approval rating at one year, just 39 percent of the last six administrations, including his first term.
Joining us now to discuss, special guests, David Urban, a Republican strategist, former Trump campaign adviser, Karen Finney, a former senior adviser to 2016 Hillary Clinton campaigns. They're both CNN political commentators. And CNN anchor and chief domestic correspondent, Phil Mattingly. He's also here in the Situation Room.
David Urban, I'll start with you. President Trump spent much of last night posting about his desire to acquire Greenland, but that's not necessarily politically popular. In fact, three quarters of Americans say in a brand-new poll that they oppose the U.S. attempting to take control of Greenland. Why is he so focused on this one year into his second term? Why is he so focused on Greenland and these other foreign policy issues, as opposed to domestic issues?
DAVID URBAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER AND CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Wolf, I'm not quite sure, especially today on a day, the one-year anniversary of his being sworn in. I think the president has lots to crow about. I would just point to what he talked about, closing the poorest border. You know, we had 10 million illegal immigrants pour across the border during the Biden administration. You look at the economy, $18 trillion in new investment. A new plant just broke ground, as you know, Wolf, up in upstate New York, new Micron plant. Just run over some of the other quick ones. S&P up 16 percent. NASDAQ up 20 percent. Wages up 3.8 percent. Inflation down to 1.5 percent. So, that means real wage growth across America has increased.
Average U.S. gas price across the United States, $2.79. That is a reduction in tax on real working-class people who get up every day and got to put gas in their tank and worry about those numbers. He proposed a 10 percent cap on credit card fees. No tax on tips. No tax on overtime. No tax on Social Security. Those things all affect real Americans every day. And I think the president should crow about that today. Focus on that a little bit. Maybe let the Greenland talks subside for a bit.
Overall, Wolf, I think this first year is a Rorschach test. Karen will see what she sees. But the Trump voters, 2020 for Trump voters, 92 percent of them were found to be very favorable in the recent Wall Street Journal poll. So, if you're a Trump voter, if you're a Republican, you still like what the guy's doing. You love what the guy's doing. If you're Karen Finney, not so much.
BLITZER: Well, if Karen Finney happens to be here, let's get --
KAREN FINNEY, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, 2016 CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Hey, I happen to be here.
BLITZER: What do you think?
FINNEY: David, thanks for the shout out. My goodness. Look, I think our own John King's reporting from Iowa tells us a lot where he was talking to farmers who are very concerned about the bailout of Argentina. They're concerned about all this talk about Greenland because that's not what they voted for. And certainly, I think, you know, Minneapolis and the conversation we've been having today about what's about to happen or the conversation really that's at Davos, where world leaders mean the greatest threat to NATO right now is the United States of America because of Donald Trump.
You have people who don't feel -- David just ticked off a whole list of accomplishments. The problem, and Joe Biden found this, people are not feeling it in their everyday lives. We saw the latest jobs report showed that prior to the tariffs, the liberation day, job creation was doing quite well. It dropped almost 90 percent post that. So, his policies are actually harming the economy.
And certainly. what I think what we're seeing is someone who came into office with grievance and a sort of zero-sum game that it's all about power. And it's very personal. Everything he's been doing, he makes it very personal. The retribution, the revenge, going after enemies, even when he talks about Greenland and we have to have it and I want to have it and the way he's put his name on things.
So, I think the last year there's been a lot that is not was not what he campaigned on. It's not what people thought they voted for. And the challenge for Democrats is to make that argument that Republicans don't deserve more power going into the midterm elections. That Democrats can be trusted to deliver.
BLITZER: Phil Mattingly is with us as well. Phil, President Trump over the last year, this first year of his second term has focused extensively, as we all know, on the Nobel Peace Prize that he didn't win. We now know he recently sent a message to Norway's prime minister saying he no longer feels bound to, quote, to think purely of peace because the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award him the Nobel Peace Prize. You've covered the president extensively going back to 2015. What's behind his thinking on Greenland right now?
[10:50:00]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: He really wanted the Nobel Peace Prize, Wolf, I think. Look, and I joke about that, but I think that sometimes we do a lot of reporting behind the scenes about what advisers are saying the president is thinking or what may be driving him or what may be accelerating certain policies. And then the president, and I think David Urban probably knows this better than anybody, the president just puts it on social media, which is very helpful in understanding kind of the genesis or what's driving his thinking in certain aspects here.
I do think, though, it's important to note, as much as the Nobel Peace Prize may play a role in the current iteration of things, I think what happened in Venezuela and the success of that operation has emboldened this administration on national security policy more than perhaps the president wanting the Nobel Peace Prize, which, by the way, the Norwegian prime minister has no jurisdiction over, we should note.
I do think with that in mind, Greenland has been an issue that Trump has been focused on actually since his first term. It is a national security issue beyond just the Trump administration that U.S. officials have been talking about. There are very real reasons why you should be concerned about issues related to Greenland, why you should be concerned about the United States' role in Greenland.
The decision to go the route that he's gone, particularly over the course of the last several days, we have seen the ramifications and repercussions of that and how they decide to navigate this going forward, whether or not there's an off-ramp, as you were just talking about with Ambassador Volker, is a really, really huge question because this is as unsettled as I've heard foreign allies since the liberation daytime period of this term.
FINNEY: And it's -- I mean, look, it's unsettling to the global economy. I mean, again, David, you're talking about all these wonderful things we can debate in the stock market, but what we're hearing out of Davos is real concern about that Greenland, how is that going to upend the markets when we're talking about 200 percent tariffs on French wine and punishing our allies?
And the thing that you can certainly make the argument that our global interests and our security, their security interests legitimately in Greenland, but there was a way to accomplish that diplomatically. Again, we see Donald Trump making it personal, making it about he wants more power and grievance that he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize, which we should note the nominations happened actually even before he had been inaugurated.
BLITZER: I want to bring David Urban back into this conversation. David, I want all of us to listen and watch what the U.S. Treasury secretary had to say when asked about President Trump's first term. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's true that your economic policies are so successful, why doesn't it resonate with the American people? Your president and the government is highly unpopular in your country. Are they not able to understand what you have achieved or what's the reason for that?
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Great question. I can tell you what we are not going to do. We are not going to do what the Biden administration did. And I believe the American people still have inflation PTSD from the biggest inflation in 49 years. And the Americans, they are right to be upset. The Biden administration created an affordability crisis like we have not seen. We are working to bring that down. And please recall that many outlets in this room said that it was a vibe session. The American people do not know what they are feeling. They don't know how good they have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, David, where do you stand on that assessment?
URBAN: Listen, Wolf, I think, you know -- by the way, Karen, I don't think money people care about a 200 percent tariff on French wines. At least people in the most part of America, they care about gas under three bucks. Look, Wolf, I do think, as Karen did point out, though, in the Biden administration, a lot of Americans don't, you know, don't feel it in their pocketbooks immediately.
In Q3 and Q4 of 2025, GDP increased 4.3 percent and 4.9 percent. Things are moving in the right direction. I think in Q1 of this year, you will see a lot of that coming to fruition. The tax cuts are taking effect this year. So, people will feel it in their pocketbooks.
Listen, they feel it every day, Wolf, when you go to fill up your gas tank. I think some of those numbers are, Fareed Zakaria, this past week had talked about this, a lot of dissatisfaction in blue cities and blue states where taxes are super high, houses are unaffordable, democratic policies and priorities have failed.
And so, there is these two separate groups of Americans, some in the cities that are run by Democrats, high taxes, low deliverable on services, they feel dissatisfied. And then the people in the rest of America. Again, I'll point to that Wall Street Journal poll, 92 percent of Trump voters in 2024 said they still strongly support the president at this point in time. So, there are clearly some people that are feeling good about it, maybe just not those that that journalist was talking to there in Davos.
BLITZER: The most recent polls do show that he's losing support among independent voters out there, which is very significant, especially going into the midterm elections later this year.
[10:55:00]
David Urban, Karen Finney, Phil Mattingly to all of you. Thank you very, very much. Coming up right after a short break, what could President Trump's push for Greenland mean for the future of NATO? We'll ask Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York about that and more just ahead in The Situation Room.
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