It’s been a year since Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term as U.S. president, and he marked the occasion with a marathon press conference in the White House briefing room, zigzagging on topics ranging from immigration to the future of the United Nations.
“It’s been a great period,” Trump said Tuesday, taking to the stage with a stack of printouts in hand.
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For more than an hour and 40 minutes, the Republican leader ran through a list of his accomplishments, touting trends in “reverse immigration” from the United States and what he called “high economic growth.”
But the press conference was overshadowed by deteriorating relations between the United States and its traditional allies in Europe, as President Trump presses forward with his campaign to take possession of the Danish territory of Greenland.
European leaders began gathering on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but President Trump’s threat to buy Greenland “in some way” cast a cloud over the proceedings.
Some leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, have even suggested that it is time for Western allies to imagine a future without American leadership. “We are in the midst of a disconnect, not a transition,” Carney told the audience at Davos.
Trump himself suggested in a press conference that international organizations like the United Nations and NATO may not stand the test of time. Here are some key takeaways from his remarks.
threaten greenland
President Trump began the day with a flurry of social media posts on his platform Truth Social, including posts that used images generated by artificial intelligence to show the United States’ claims to Canada, Greenland and Venezuela.
Another AI-generated video showed President Trump planting an American flag on Greenland soil alongside Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The images were the latest sign that President Trump plans to press ahead with plans to seize control of Greenland as part of his expansionist goals in his second term.
In response to questions from reporters at a press conference, President Trump expressed optimism that his campaign would be successful.
“We have a lot of meetings scheduled in Greenland,” President Trump said Wednesday of his next trip to Davos. “Actually, I think things are going to go pretty well.”
He also dismissed concerns that territorial ambitions could strip Greenlanders of their right to self-determination. “I’m sure they’ll be excited when I tell them,” he said.
Still, when faced with a question about how far he was willing to go to acquire the island, Trump uttered an ominous line, simply saying, “We’ll see.”
Trump has so far refused to take military options off the table and has threatened several European allies with increased tariffs if they fail to support his claims to the self-governing island.
Weighing the future of NATO and the United Nations
Looking at the sword clash over Greenland, one reporter asked whether President Trump was willing to risk the collapse of the NATO alliance to achieve his expansionist goals.
President Trump largely avoided the question in response. He suggested that a mutually agreeable solution could be reached.
“I think very good things are going to happen for everyone,” he said of Greenland.
“I think we’ll work something out in a way that NATO is very happy with and we’re very happy with, but we need it for security purposes. We need financial security and we also need global security.”
He also touted efforts by NATO members to increase military spending. At a NATO summit in June, most member states agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP), but Spain successfully petitioned for an exemption.
“No one has done more for NATO than me,” Trump said, repeating a familiar boast.
Still, he questioned one of NATO’s basic foundations. Article 5 of the Treaty of Association obliges member states to provide mutual defense in case of attack. But under the Trump administration, allies in Europe and Canada are questioning whether the U.S. will comply with this requirement.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Trump appeared to reverse his accusations, casting doubt on whether Europe and Canada would come to help.
“The big concern I have with NATO is that we spend a lot of money on NATO. We know they’re coming to our rescue, but I really doubt they’re going to come to our aid,” Trump said. “I’m just listening. I’m just saying.”
Article 5 has only been invoked once, after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. NATO allies launched the first-ever “counterterrorism operation” in the aftermath, providing aircraft to patrol U.S. skies to ensure regional security.
President Trump said of the alliance, “Sometimes it’s overrated, and sometimes it’s not.”
The US president was similarly equivocal on the issue of the United Nations, saying the international body was “not very helpful.”
“It has never lived up to its potential,” Trump told reporters.
Asked if his “peace commission” aimed at overseeing reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip might one day replace the United Nations, Trump said: “Well, it could happen.”
What is Machado’s role in Venezuela?
Greenland was first on President Trump’s mind ahead of Davos, but the president was also forced to confront questions about Venezuela, another country claimed by the United States.
On January 3, President Trump authorized military action to abduct his longtime opponent, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was then extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Legal experts have largely condemned the operation as a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Trump initially said the United States would “execute” Venezuela in the wake of the attack, but has since signaled he was willing to work with interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s second-in-command.
Many of Maduro’s critics had expected a new vote following Maduro’s ouster, given that his previous two elections faced widespread accusations of fraud. However, the Trump administration refused to set a date for a new election.
Trump also dismissed the prospect of opposition leader Maria Colina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, taking power in Maduro’s absence.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult for her to lead. She doesn’t have the support or the respect in the country,” President Trump said within hours of the operation starting on January 3.
Still, President Trump’s tone appeared to have changed on Tuesday. He hinted that Machado could play a role in Venezuela’s leadership after a meeting at the White House last week in which he presented him with the Nobel Prize.
President Trump told reporters: “You know, an incredibly lovely woman did something very extraordinary a few days ago.” “We’re talking to her and maybe we can involve her in some way. I’d be happy if we could do that.”
President Trump added that Rodriguez’s administration is receptive to his administration’s demands and expects U.S. oil companies to make “significant investments” in the South American country.
“We pulled 50 million barrels of oil out of Venezuela in the first four days,” Trump said. “We have millions of barrels of oil left, and we’re selling it on the open market.”
The proceeds are going to a U.S.-controlled account, and on Tuesday the Rodriguez administration announced it had received $300 million as part of the deal.
Dealing with tensions in Minnesota
On the domestic front, Trump used his first anniversary appearance in the briefing room to defend his controversial immigration operations in Minnesota, where about 2,000 federal agents are stationed.
A major immigration crackdown began in December after President Trump blamed the large Somali-American community there for a fraud scandal that rocked the Midwestern state.
At the time, he deployed racist insults, including calling Somali-Americans “trash.”
President Trump returned to that theme in Tuesday’s press conference, downplaying the intelligence of the diaspora, saying they have “a lot of people with very low IQs.”
The fraud scheme was framed as a criminal organization masterminded outside the Somali-American community whose members ultimately benefited.
“Other people do well and get paid and go buy a Mercedes-Benz,” Trump said.
“They don’t have money. They’ve never had money. They don’t have lives, they don’t have a government, they don’t have a country. They basically don’t have a country. Somalia doesn’t even have a country. There’s nothing resembling a country. And if there is a country, it’s just considered the worst thing in the world.”
President Trump also addressed the January 7 murder of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three.
Goode’s death was captured on video amid heightened tensions in Minneapolis over the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Witness video shows Goode being parked in her car when an ICE officer approaches her and as she tries to drive away, the officer fires three shots into her window.
Her death sparked nationwide outrage and protests as critics questioned whether the use of force was excessive.
But President Trump approached the debate with a “both sides” argument, similar to how he framed the 2017 killing of Heather Heyer at a counterprotest in Charlottesville, Virginia, denouncing white supremacists.
President Trump said Tuesday of Goode’s shooting: “A woman was shot. I felt terrible about it and I understand both sides.”
He blamed “agitators” and “insurrectionists” among the anti-ICE protesters for creating a hostile situation.
“Sometimes ICE treats someone roughly,” Trump said. “They deal with rough people. They’re going to make mistakes. Sometimes that can happen.”
Still, he expressed sympathy for Ms. Good’s family, explaining that he had recently learned that her father was one of Ms. Good’s supporters.
“He totally supported Trump and loved Trump, which is terrible. I heard a lot of people say, ‘Oh, he loves you,'” Trump said.
“I hope he still feels that way.”
