Is Trump about to call NATO’s bluff and invade Greenland?

Sky News, the full story first. Martha, here we are in Washington. You're just off the train. from new york yeah yeah what a nice train journey that is it is well i came last night and you know what we shared a carriage with no less than Nancy Pelosi. Did you? Political icon, former Speaker of the House. I won't ask what class you were travelling in. Yeah, you better not. But the spectacle I witnessed, and I wish I hadn't, she was having a snooze and somebody...

woke her up to say, Madam Speaker, I'm a big fan. Dribble down her chin. Dribbling down her neck. No, not quite. We would have filmed that. No, we wouldn't. But Eleanor, you know, producer, she said, behind you, that's our secret service. I looked around and he was having a snooze as well. Of course. Slightly worrying. That's not secure. They didn't know James Matthews was lurking.

I'm Martha Kellner. And I'm James Matthews. We're in the studio in Washington, DC. And Donald Trump has been making his first... Big speech after the US operation in Venezuela. Now Mexico, Cuba and Greenland are on watch. It is quite the speech. We're going to digest it all. Yeah, and what a difference five years make. The White House has launched a new website. It retails... tells the story of January the 6th. It might not be the version you've heard before.

Now, Martha, we had Donald Trump on Tuesday live and unleashed on stage here in D.C. Yeah, he was at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center and it was an address to a home crowd. You know, he was speaking to Republican members of Congress, one hour and 20 minutes, no less. Yeah, let's listen to Flavor.

of it there was a bit of this and Martha see if you can guess what he's talking about here and you see I want to be more but I have somebody watching I want to be more effusive I want to really yeah But she gets it. Is that a tribute to Rob Reiner, a reenactment of When Harry Met Sally? Yes, I'll have what he's having. Actually, that was him mimicking a weightlifter when he was talking about transgender rights.

I do know, because I watched a few of the highlights, if you can call them that, that there was another impression that he did as well of Emmanuel Macron. They said, so you're going to do it, Emmanuel? I said, OK, here's the story, Emmanuel. If on Monday you haven't agreed to every single thing that we want, I'm putting a 25% tariff on everything coming out of France.

including your wines, your champagnes, and everything else. No, no, no, no, you cannot do that. I said, I can do that, and I will do that. Donald, you have a deal. I would love to. Whatever you want, Donald, please. Don't tell the population. Please, Donald, I beg you. There you go, the president doing his best, Peter Sellers. But that was the tenor of it. A quite extraordinary, I suppose, for Donald Trump.

Ordinary, actually, this stream of consciousness, really, like, you know, thoughts out loud. He was warmly received by this audience, Republicans, I think it's worth noting, because, of course, Republicans, MAGA, they're reluctant.

with this business of foreign wars. We didn't get a sense of any of that reluctance here. It was a friendly crowd. There was applause, some whooping, actually, when he described the Venezuela operation. Trump... He's clearly enjoying the sugar rush of all of this. He talked about how it played out. And when he did so, it was almost with that childlike enthusiasm. Yeah, and I think militarily, this was... an incredibly complex and successfully executed operation in the grand scheme of things.

We are, though, learning about some of the casualties of this operation. You know, the Venezuelan military today posting on Instagram saying 24 of its people died in the attack. Cuba have previously said 32 of its nationals died. And then in the last few minutes...

minutes just before we were about to come in here and record this podcast, we got a release from the Pentagon saying seven US soldiers were injured in the operation. One of those is said to have serious injuries. I was struck in this press statement.

They said this service member had multiple gunshot wounds to the leg but was well on the way to recovery. And I thought, I'm not sure four days after receiving multiple gunshot wounds to the leg, you're well on the way to recovery. But this is being celebrated as a military...

success. I also thought that there was maybe a hint in Donald Trump's speech, a bit of insight into what pushed him over the edge to launch this operation in the end. I don't know whether you heard him talking about Majuro's dancing. guy, he gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit.

But he's a violent guy. Just to put everyone in the picture, as US pressure has been ramping up on Venezuela over the past few months, you know, stationing warships in the Caribbean, bombing these alleged drug boats, Maduro... has been, you know, cutting this very relaxed figure. He's been posting these videos of him dancing on stage to techno music. Yeah, come and get me.

Exactly. His recorded voice saying no crazy war in the background. And it seems pretty clear to me that he was imitating, mocking Donald Trump's famous YMCA dance. And I think what is key is I think Trump's inner circle also thought that he was taking the piss out of him. Yeah, and that's a question for Team Maduro now, isn't it? In Caracas, to toe the line or take the piss.

We're no further forward on the politics of it all. There's still no indication from the Americans that they have thought through what comes next beyond this seeming expectation that the people in place will bend to America's will. you know, make the Venezuelan population do the same, do America's bidding. And you're talking about Maduro's people, you know, Darcy Rodriguez, the interim president, Maduro's mini-me, their priority now surely is going to be their...

political survival. And I don't think necessarily accepting the American diktat leads to their survival in place. Chuck Schumer, interestingly, leader of the Democrats, he was talking about a classified briefing that they've had on the Venezuelan operation, said he couldn't talk details. But every question told him, he said.

that this was back of the envelope stuff in terms of, you know, what does come next. And he made the point that we've heard repeated, actually. The US, it doesn't have a good record in nation building after the initial bang, bang. Yeah, so many mixed messages as well. And I think to a lot of people, they would have expected Maria Karina Machado as the opposition leader to take over. Trump said, you know, she's a very nice lady, but she's not got enough respect on the ground.

There was some reporting I read today that Trump may have been annoyed that she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, which obviously he'd coveted so much. And that's why he's shunned her. I don't think that's beyond the realms of possibility. This is a man who can be deeply childish at times. We don't know that he's not...

launched an attack on Maduro because he didn't like him mocking him with his dancing. Delicate soul. So I think, you know, it is the unknowns now about what happens next. We know that oil is the priority, the access to it, but you have to wonder in such a violent place as Venezuela is. It's the notion that US oil companies are going to saunter back in, you know, repair heavily damaged oil infrastructure with all the costs that that would involve. It's a huge billion dollar.

gamble you know they're going to be wary of that without the guarantees of security and without the politics being buttoned down at the moment yeah the speech it wasn't without the trademark hubris but there was Martha a recognition of his own political mortality. He told his audience, you've got to win the midterms. If you don't, they'll find a reason to impeach me, he said, talking about his Democrat opponents.

And remember, he's been impeached twice, twice found. Not guilty, of course. Not once was Greenland mentioned actually on stage, but... Of course, it is all the talk. It certainly was the talk of Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff. He was interviewed on CNN Monday night and he was asked, what would the US do about Greenland? His answer was a sort of... Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.

Greenland should be part of the United States. The president has been very clear about that. That is the formal position of the U.S. government. Right, but can you say that military action against Greenland is off the table? What do you mean military action against Greenland?

Greenland has a population of 30,000 people, Jake. The real question is, by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark? is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region,

to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously Greenland should be part of the United States. And so that's a conversation that we're going to have as a country. That's a process we're going to have as a community of nations. So you can't take it off the table that the U.S. would use military...

force to seize Greenland. You can't take it off the table. I understand, Jake. I understand you're trying very hard to, which again, is your job. I respect it. It's great to get exactly the headline.

right that catchy headline trying to get an answer that says that says miller refuses to rule out the the united states should have greenland as part of the united states there's no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you're asking of a military operation nobody's going to fight the united states militarily

over the future of Greenland. It was one of the most remarkable exchanges I've ever seen on a news channel. You know, sometimes you genuinely can't believe what you were watching. And we know what sort of conversations are happening around the Miller's breakfast table. his wife Katie posting that picture of Greenland with the US flag overlaid on top of it. And now this arrogant appearance.

on CNN, where Stephen Miller is basically claiming that the only reason that there'll be no military action in Greenland is because nobody's big enough and brave enough to fight the US for it. basically saying they're going to saunter in and take what he believes is rightfully theirs. And that's what is being echoed on all the official channels, the White House putting out a statement. on Tuesday saying that the President and his advisers are discussing options including purchasing the land.

from Denmark. That's something they first touted back in 2017. This statement adds that utilising the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief's disposal. Yeah, that statement on the day that six European countries, well, they issued a statement of the own the UK was among them a joint statement supporting Greenland and Denmark it read Greenland belongs to its people and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations. It's a rebuttal, isn't it?

These countries, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, NATO allies, clearly viewing a clear and present danger from Trump's comments. Extraordinary. Countries that have fought together, stuck together, preserved the peace. together now firing off you know these statement wars very passive aggressive but

Or becoming a bit more aggressive than passive. Yeah, on this subject, we've had an email in from Andrew from Galloway in Scotland. He asked, would Britain defend the Falklands if Trump had plans to take the islands? The Falklands are... of course, off the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic, part of the Western Hemisphere, that the president seems now over the last few days so preoccupied with dominating. Yeah, the Falklands sovereign UK territory, of course.

Thanks for the question, Andrew. I think my answer to that would be, well, first of all, Britain's always asserted its commitment to the Falklands, and nobody is suggesting they would be on Trump's. wanted list yet but of course they very much are on argentinas still are today as much as they were in 1982 when the argentines invaded and of course britain fought

and won the Falklands War to take them back. The United States then were a key factor in that. They lent their support to the Brits, and that was critical militarily and politically. And, of course, we do still have this special relationship, but Trump's... got a pretty special relationship, of course, with Argentina's president, Malay, the guy who was on stage with Elon Musk with the chainsaw, the very one. And Trump, of course, you know, he's got hefty financial investments in this government.

and in Argentina itself. So who knows? It is easy, isn't it, to get ahead of ourselves? Sure, but there would certainly be a doubt over US support for Britain. the like of which we had last time. And I suppose it would come down to US self-interest, which doesn't necessarily match Britain's.

You know, the fact that we're even talking about this shows just how seismic the shift has been in recent months. You know, it's a genuine possibility, even a probability in some people's minds that the President of the United States... fresh off attacking and capturing the president of a sovereign country, could launch an incursion on an ally's soil in Greenland.

Now, Martha, this whole Maduro business, of course, has been a major distraction domestically in the United States. Convenient distraction, some might say. Some might say, because there is so much going on. We've learned this week. Something else about the Epstein files, remember them, the Department of Justice. Well, they released a statement on Monday, a letter to a district court, saying only 12,000 documents have been released from the Epstein files, more than 2 million more documents.

are still under review and yet to be released. Are you looking forward to going through all those, James? I think that will see you to retirement, Martha, never mind me. And on Monday, the US Health Department, they changed their vaccine recommendations for children. rfk juniors department it says that meningococcal hep a and hep b vaccines they won't be recommended for youngsters with higher risk of infection

And kids who want flu, COVID or rotavirus vaccines, they'll now need to consult a health provider first. This is a huge shift in health policy, cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child. Many medical organisations say this will put the health and lives of children in America at risk. Health officials, we're told, will continue to recommend the vaccines against polio, chickenpox and HPV.

On the MMR vaccine, so that's the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, that is still being recommended. But Trump said in a Truth Social post late on Monday night that that should also change. I'm going to read what he said in full. because I think it's worth reading. He said pregnant women, that's in lowercase, then the rest of the post is in uppercase. He says, don't use Tylenol unless absolutely necessary.

Don't give Tylenol to your young child for virtually any reason. Break up the MMR shot into three totally separate shots, not mixed. Take chicken pea shots separately. Take hepatitis B shot at 12 years old or older. Take vaccine in five separate medical visits, signed off President DJT. grammar in that and i'm not sure it's particularly clear medical advice from dr trump dr frankenstein eat your heart out he repeated this claim that tylenol could cause autism there is no scientific proof

that Tylenol painkiller does cause autism. And of course, this advice is coming at a time when rates of disease, which can be protected against using vaccines like measles and whooping cough, well, they're on the rise. Yeah.

Tuesday, Martha, was five years since what day? January 6th. Yeah, insurrection, invasion, storming of the Capitol in 2021, of course. That sought to stop Congress from confirming Joe Biden. as the president and resulted in, well, Donald Trump facing impeachment for the second time in his first term. Widely viewed as an assault on American democracy. Pictures, we heard the words. An extraordinary day that, of course, has shaped modern US politics.

Yeah, it really has. And yet this is an administration that fights back against conventional wisdom when remembering that day, real revisionist history. To the Trump administration, these violent protesters who broke into the Capitol, caused the death of police officers. They were peaceful protesters exercising their right to freedom of speech.

One of the things they focus on is the death of Ashley Babbitt. She was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer after she tried to get into the Speaker's lobby. MAGA and Trump say that she was murdered. in cold blood by the Capitol Police. And to mark the fifth anniversary of January the 6th, the White House have launched a new page on their website, whitehouse.gov forward slash Jan 6.

And it's pretty astounding stuff. Yeah, well, it's a hell of a read. They have a timeline of the day. And some of the headlines are Patriots March to the Capitol, Capitol Police Escalate Tensions. President Trump urges calm, stolen election certified. Essentially, it's the Donald Trump version of what happened on what he called a beautiful day. To mark the anniversary of the Proud Boys, the far-right group.

who support Trump, were key instigators of the insurrection that day. They were marching from the White House to the Capitol to mirror the route they took five years ago. I was there caught up with Enrique Tarrio. former leader of the Proud Boys. He was convicted and sentenced to 22 years for being an organiser of the insurrection. Seditious conspiracy. He was released in January, of course, last year.

when he was pardoned by Donald Trump along with the other Jan Sixers? We're focused on remembering Ashley Babbitt and those who passed away that day. That's the only focus for today. Let me ask you the question, Enrique, and it's a question that... Some people don't like but it is valid. I think if Ashley Babbitt and others hadn't been inside the Capitol as part of a group that stormed the Capitol They wouldn't have been in harm's way. What do you say to that? Look no matter what

She was an unarmed woman. There was no warning. She was shot in the neck. There was no warning, absolutely. She wasn't in danger. She was 110 pounds wet. You know, you could argue that she shouldn't have been in there, but that she should be murdered for it. that's we we could we could say two things at once we could say two things exist at once the fact that you and others were jailed

The view is and the view of the courts that put you behind bars is that you were jailed legitimately, that you had committed a crime and that this is a rewriting of history. I wonder what you say to that. Well, I have nothing to say to those people that don't see things objectively. I wasn't judged by a jury of my peers. You know, it's here in D.C. It's a political trial. I don't think anybody argues that.

And this district voted 93% for Biden, 4% for Trump. The jurors themselves said that they had a bias coming in. They were still allowed to sit. People could say all those things, but until you look at the facts of the case, you know, did I celebrate the things that happened that day? Yes, obviously. But that's not a crime. Maybe in the UK it's a crime. I've seen that happen. You could get jailed for words. But here...

We're not supposed to be jailed for our words unless it's a direct threat of violence. Were there any counter-protesters down there? Yeah, it got quite noisy at one stage and the police were out in force, forming a line of separation. There were people anti-Trump, anti this notion that there is a rewriting of history in their view. And I spoke to one of them, Rebecca.

I'm here because I do not think that traders should get a victory lap. And I saw what they've done and they're trying to change history and I'm not going to stand for it. Why do you see that? They clearly are. convinced of their version of the story? Because I saw a different story and I've lived here for 20 years, worked. in that building. I have friends in that building including the Senate parliamentarian who they were looking for on that day. They were wanting to kill people.

And it was an insurrection and we're not going to let him say it wasn't. Ashley Babbitt was a traitor. I can only imagine what the families of the several police officers who died as a result of what happened that day must have thought watching not only those protesters, but also seeing that page on the official White House website.

defending the actions of those insurrectionists. Yeah, it's not a story that's going to go away, whichever version you read. I think that's us for the day, Martha. Good to see you in Washington, DC. Thank you for having me here. I'm off for a snooze now. Don't wake me up. Dribble down your chin, Pelosi style. Thanks very much indeed for listening and for watching. Do send us your questions and comments to trump100 at sky.uk. Many thanks. See you soon.