Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, ran laps around host Kristen Welker and schooled her on hostile questions about the United States’ pursuit of Greenland.
As The Gateway Pundit reported on Saturday, President Trump slapped Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland with 10% tariffs, effective February 1, in response to troop movements to defend NATO from US forces.
“China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it. They currently have two dogsleds as protection, one added recently. Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that! Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake,” Trump said.
The 10% tariff will increase to 25% on June 1, and will be “due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump said.
JUST IN: Trump Announces Tariffs on 8 NATO Countries Until Deal is Reached for “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” – Tariffs to Increase on June 1
The President has also President suggested he might withdraw the US from the NATO alliance, telling reporters, “I’m the one that saved NATO. You wouldn’t have NATO if I weren’t President.”
“I just wonder whether or not, if we needed NATO, would they be there for us? I’m not sure they would,” Trump continued. “They need us much more than we need them.”
When pressed on the NATO alliance, Bessent dropped the mic, calling out her dishonest question, then laying out the facts about US NATO spending and NATO allies’ dependence on the US.
“The European leaders will come around, and they will understand that they need to be under the US security umbrella,” he told her after she advocated for European countries over US interests.
“Since 1980, the US has spent— US military spending versus NATO military spending— we have spent 22 trillion more dollars than the Europeans have,” he added, noting that NATO is “only trying to play catch-up.”
WATCH:
Bessent: Denmark has a terrible history with Greenlanders. There was forced sterilizations up until the 80s or the 90s. So all of a sudden, now that the US has expressed an interest, there is this new interest, and again, the United States needs to be in control to prevent a war, and we do not want to get dragged into someone else’s war.
Welker: Well, this is about the United States’ relationship with its allies. NATO Allies, again, reacting with alarm. They’re warning that this move to annex Greenland could, in fact, destroy NATO. So let me just put this to you bluntly, is Greenland or NATO more essential to the United States national security?
Bessent: Well, Kristen, that’s obviously a false choice.
Welker: Not from the perspective of European leaders.
Bessent: The European leaders will come around, and they will understand that they need to be under the US security umbrella. What would happen in Ukraine if the US pulled its support out? The whole thing would collapse. The US, Kristen, to be clear, since 1980, the US has spent— US military spending versus NATO military spending— we have spent 22 trillion more dollars than the Europeans have. We are peace through strength, and the Europeans, now, are only trying to play catch up, and that is only through President Trump. President Trump believes in NATO, but he does not believe in the American people being dragged in.
In another segment of the interview, Bessent schooled Welker on the necessity of preventing adversaries from taking over Greenland, when she suggested that the NATO tariffs, which are a tool for negotiating a deal for the acquisition of Greenland, would “undercut the United States’ word.”
WATCH:
Welker: I hear you saying that the deal hasn’t been finalized, and yet it was moving toward finalization. Doesn’t it undercut the United States’ word by threatening these steep new tariffs?
Bessent: I think it does not. What it does is it enhances United States Security. And again, we have seen the Europeans are unable to push back against Russia. The US is— this war that never would have started in Ukraine, Kristen, we are going to settle it, but it wouldn’t have started, and what President Trump is trying to do is prevent a taking or the Russia and Chinese action in Greenland in the future. So, why not be strategic? Why always live in the moment?
Welker also tried to imply that there is no national emergency over a future threat to the US homeland when Bessent described the move as a “strategic decision” to avoid war.
“What if, during the great financial crisis, someone had raised their hand in 2005, 2006, and said, Stop with subprime mortgages?” Bessent said. “But no one did. President Trump is raising his hand, and that is preventing the emergency.”
Welker: What is the national emergency that justifies this new slate of tariffs?
Bessent: The National Emergency is avoiding a national emergency. It is a strategic decision by the President. This is a geopolitical decision, and he is able to use the economic might of the US to avoid a hot war. So why wouldn’t— why would we do that? You know, the same thing, what if we had a national emergency coming with these gigantic trade balances that we had with the rest of the world. I’ve been in financial markets for 30/45, years— much better to be strategic, avoid the emergency.
Welker: You’re saying it’s a national emergency, but you’re also saying it’s a threat that’s years away. How can both be true, Mr. Secretary?
Bessent: Because we’re avoiding creating the emergency. Kristen. What if, during the great financial crisis, someone had raised their hand in 2005, 2006 and said, stop with subprime mortgages? But no one did. President Trump is raising his hand and that is preventing the emergency.
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