Transcription
But we do prefer respect to bullies. We do prefer science to plotism. And we do prefer rule of law to brutality. We have a place where rule of law and predictability is still the rule of the game. And my guess is that it is largely underpriced by the market. Having a place like Europe, which sometimes is too slow for sure and is to be reformed for sure, but which is predictable, loyal, and where you know that the rule of the game is just the rule of law, it's a good place. And here, in the epicenter of this continent, we do believe that we need more growth, we need more stability in this world, but we do prefer respect to bullies. We do prefer science to plotism, and we do prefer rule of law to brutality. You're welcome in Europe, and you are more than welcome to France.
[applause]
We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim. This fiction was useful, and American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes. So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals, and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration. When integration becomes the source of your subordination, it seems that every day we're reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry, that the rules-based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can and the weak must suffer what they must. And this aphorism of Thucydides is presented as inevitable, as the natural logic of international relations reasserting itself. And faced with this logic, there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won't. So what are our options?
In 1978, the Czech dissident Václav Havel, later president, wrote an essay called "The Power of the Powerless." And in it, he asked a simple question: How did the communist system sustain itself? And his answer began with a greengrocer. Every morning, this shopkeeper places a sign in his window: "Workers of the world unite." He doesn't believe it. No one does. But he places the sign anyway, to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along. And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the system persists, not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false. Havel called this "living within a lie." The system's power comes not from its truth, but from everyone's willingness to perform as if it were true. And its fragility comes from the same source. When even one person stops performing, when the greengrocer removes his sign, the illusion begins to crack. Friends, it is time for companies and countries to take their signs down. Four decades.
[applause]
That was Emmanuel Macron of France and Mark Carney of Canada, pulling no punches and targeting Trump at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And I'll say this: they are saying the right things, but this is the clearest instance in which actions speak louder than words. Trump will be wholly unmoved by your appeals to the rule of law. He'll be unmoved by hearing you wax poetic about democracy. So, if you really truly care about those things, you'll have to turn that rhetoric into action, knowing that Trump will never do the right thing simply because it's the right thing to do. The only way to deal with a bully is through strength. So, what does that look like? In this instance, it looks like Europe recognizing that it accounts for about 20% of the United States' imports and exports. First of all, Trump is not the only person who can impose tariffs in the world, and Europe is not without spending power. Second of all, remember that Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs is not without consequence to him here at home. Trump has hit a new record low of negative 25% support on his tariffs, second only to his negative 27% approval in healthcare. In other words, Trump's handling of tariffs is among his least popular policies ever and is largely responsible for his record low approval rating in office. And by the way, it's not just vibes. The data backs up how disastrous the tariffs have been for him, considering since his so-called liberation day, the US has added virtually zero jobs. And that much was made clear on Fox News, of all places.
>> Shannon already referenced today, uh, the new Fox News poll. I would also like to dive in there and look at the approval rating for Donald Trump on inflation. 36%.
>> Compared to what?
>> What?
>> Compared to what?
>> 36%. It doesn't have to be...
>> No context.
>> Greg. That's not how polling works.
All of which is to say, do not think the tariffs are some magic bullet only for Trump to be able to wield. Because while he congratulates himself on a daily basis over how great they are, he's not convincing anyone. And in fact, all he's doing is showing how out of touch he is by doubling down on an increasingly unpopular policy. And I want to make one thing clear: if it seems like in this whole scenario I'm rooting for Europe to succeed here against Trump, I am. Why? Because Trump's plan is to destroy NATO. That makes all of us, including Americans, less safe. That makes Russia and China stronger. That weakens democracy at home and abroad, and bolsters autocracy at home and abroad. Consider, too, what will the world look like if Donald Trump gets his way and ushers in imperialism 2.0? Sure, we get Greenland, a country that we already have access to anyway. What does China get, for example? They take over Taiwan, a small country that controls 60% of the global semiconductor industry. That means China would effectively have a monopoly over the technology of tomorrow. You think that won't impact us when we have to beg China to allow us access to chips that everything is used for? And as for Russia, well, Russia itself made that a point abundantly clear in terms of where they stand on imperialism.
>> In Greenland, there was no coup. But as President Trump said, this territory is simply important for the security of the US. Crimea is equally important, uh, for the security of Russia.
>> See, if the US can invade and annex Greenland, then Russia can do the exact same thing with Crimea. And that's not the end of imperialism. That is the beginning. So, I'm sorry if you disagree with me, but I don't want to live in a world where big countries can just invade smaller countries because Donald Trump ushered in a new spoil system, all because he's obsessed with his legacy and wants to see what a map looks like with more real estate that he can take credit for.
A point that Ruben Ggo made here.
>> There is no reasoning, right? The president just wants to have a legacy piece where he gets to claim that he brought in this big chunk of land that he sees on the map, even though it's, you know, a distorted map. And he's willing to ruin our whole foreign policy, all of our alliances, our economy, just so he could get what he wants. This man is doing everything for himself and nothing for us. Even the idea of buying it. We're going to spend billions and billions of dollars, potentially half a trillion dollars, which is never going to happen. But right now, we can't afford health insurance for US citizens, and we're talking about buying land. And let me just say one more time, Denmark, the community in Denmark and Greenland has said, "We will give you everything you want short of giving you possession of our land. You want more bases? You get more bases. You want to put more people? You get it." The idea that we're going to waste money for everything we want is the dumbest decision we can make. The only one who can make a decision this dumb is someone that would actually let a casino go under. And guess who's president right now?
So, echoing the words of Mark Carney from Canada, compliance will not buy you safety. You gain nothing by trying to reason with a man who is fundamentally unreasonable, fundamentally unjust, fundamentally corrupt, and fundamentally undemocratic. You have to be strong. You have to fight back, and you have to avail yourself of the tools that you have at your disposal. It requires more than just words. It requires you to take that action fast because the longer you wait, the more difficult it's going to be to put together what Donald Trump is breaking right now.
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