LEILA FADEL, HOST:
OK, we're going to dig further into President Trump's rambling speech at Davos today. As we heard, it went on for more than an hour as he veered from painting an overly rosy picture of the U.S. economy that doesn't seem to match reality to calling European allies ungrateful, to making racist remarks about Somalis being low-IQ people and pirates. To unpack Trump's remarks that lasted all this time and what this speech means for the U.S.-led world order, Richard Haass joins me now. He was a prominent American diplomat and the president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. Good morning, and welcome back to the program.
RICHARD HAASS: Good morning, and good to be back.
FADEL: So I want to start with what U.S. allies in Europe were listening for, Trump's position on Greenland and whether it's soft. And as we heard from our correspondent, Trump did say he wouldn't use force, but he demanded immediate negotiations with Denmark for the U.S. to acquire Greenland. Let's hear a little bit of what else he said.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won't give it. We've never asked for anything else, and we could have kept that piece of land, and we didn't. So they have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember.
FADEL: I mean, how will this message land with European allies, with Denmark and with Greenland?
HAASS: Let me give you two answers. In terms of Greenland, people will be relieved over the ruling out of military force. They'll be uneasy 'cause it's still not clear what the United States requires and whether Trump is prepared to accept something short of what he calls ownership. And if he doesn't get it, what would be his retaliation? What would be the consequences for Ukraine or for Europe? So that's one set of questions.
So maybe there's a shallow sigh of relief, but not a deep one. And the other reaction is simply one of - in some ways, it goes back to the Canadian prime minister's talk yesterday of real unease. They see this American president. They hear him, his views his disparaging views of NATO, of individual European leaders, his take on history. I would think the average European says, this is an untenable situation. We no longer have a United States we can trust or partner with. We need to think about the next era of history 'cause the previous one has come to a close.
FADEL: So you don't see anybody being reassured about U.S. leadership, given this speech?
HAASS: To the contrary. There's a narrowness about U.S. foreign policy in terms of commercial gain. There's - we've moved from working through consent to coercion. We see our allies not as partners, but, in many cases, as quasi-adversaries needed to be pushed. You know, if you remember, also, the national security strategy, the way Europe was dealt with, almost a contempt for European culture. You heard some of that today, the insulting comments about several leaders. So no, this was not a - this will not be taken by anyone in Europe as a friendly address.
FADEL: And as you pointed out, as our correspondent pointed out, the prime minister of Canada, Mark Carney, got a lot of attention yesterday for basically saying the old U.S.-led world order was a pleasant fiction that no longer serves its allies, and middle powers like Canada need to get - to unite against this bullying, great power, bullying great power. He called this moment a rupture and not a transition. And then we heard Trump directly respond with what seemed like a threat. And we heard it earlier, but I'm just going to quote him here again. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements. What did you make of that?
HAASS: That was crude. I don't know any other word for it. It was crude. It was heavy-handed. That sounded more like a mob boss than like the president of the United States. It was a veiled warning. Nothing was explicit. And I don't know what it might mean in terms of tariffs or other pressures. But that was - again, that is not the language you use to a neighbor and an ally. Remember, one of the great structural advantages of the United States is we have this partner on our northern border. We don't have to put troops up against Canada. We can relax. Most other countries have to worry about dangerous neighbors. We don't. And the president seems to be going out of his way to alter this relationship for the worse.
FADEL: A few times, we heard Trump say a version of this.
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TRUMP: The USA is the economic engine on the planet. And when America booms, the entire world booms. It's been the history.
FADEL: And he basically was saying, gee, you just need to follow what the U.S. is doing. If we do great, you'll do great. Do what we say. And he was speaking to European allies who had made it clear they were on edge over whether this alliance was now turning into an adversarial relationship over NATO, over Greenland. Will they walk away reassured at all?
HAASS: Look, on the economic, the president have a point. Well, when the U.S. does well, the rest of the world benefits. When we sneeze, the rest of the world catches a cold. So I think that's a fact of life, but they're not going to be reassured. Think about it. The attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve Board, the United States is running close to a $39 trillion deficit, questions about American steadiness and reliability. So the fact that the United States is so important to their economic and strategic futures, yet this is not a United States they recognize anymore. So no, they don't come away reassured. Though they do still admire, I think it's fair to point out, the reality in our potential for economic innovation and growth.
FADEL: If the old order is dead, what is the new order, in your view, and where does that leave the United States?
HAASS: Well, that's the stuff of history. And that's - you know, it's going to be messier. It's going to be probably more conflict, less prosperous, less free, less American influence. But the details are to be determined. And that's why, you know, history never ends. You have pauses. You have transitions. And my sense is we're coming on a transition. But I still think to be determined is what's the character, both of where we get to and how we get there. And that's still a big issue for this administration and, conceivably, for the next one.
FADEL: And as you listened today to this speech, what was your one big takeaway from today and what that might mean for the future?
HAASS: How little this administration and this president respect what they inherited and how little they value the last eight decades. And they seem so willing to lightly, almost recklessly, throw it away for something that's unknown and almost certain to be far worse. And it's the sense of recklessness and almost irresponsibility. They are stewards and custodians of the welfare of this country. And I come away uneasy and then some - that's a diplomatic understatement - with how they are treating the inheritance and how sanguine they seem to be that we can move to something different that they are persuaded will be better.
FADEL: Veteran diplomat Richard Haass is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. Thank you for your time.
HAASS: Thank you.
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