Transcript of Trump's Speech In Davos, DOJ Subpoenas For Minnesota, SCOTUS Federal Reserve Case

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European leaders and Canada were united in their message to the US at Davos, Stay away from Greenland.

So what will President Trump say today in his speech, the World Economic Forum, after vowing there's no going back on his threats to dominate the territory?

I'm Leila Faldil. That's A Martínez, and this is Up First from NPR News. The Justice Department issued subpoenas to several of Minnesota's top elected leaders. The DOJ alleges that these officials, including the governor and the mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, are interfering with immigration enforcement. But those local leaders say this is retribution for pushing back on violent federal tactics that are scaring and endangering Minnesotans.

And the Supreme Court hears arguments over the President's power to fire a sitting governor of the Federal Reserve. What could it mean for the independence of the central bank? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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President Trump says he wants Greenland for national security, but at least one Trump official has said it's also about critical minerals? Geologist Greg Barnes knows these minerals well. I just couldn't believe that something of this size and quality was sitting out there. On the indicator from Planet Money, is this really a land of untapped natural riches? Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. President Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this morning.

He gave a broad scolding of Canada and European countries as he made his case for the US acquiring Greenland from Denmark. Trump's speech had been highly anticipated after he renewed calls for Greenland and threatened broad tariffs against countries if he doesn't get his way.

Npr White House correspondent, Daniel Kurtzleben, was watching. She's here to tell us all about it. Daniel, it It was clear that the President is still fixated on Greenland, but now it seems like the way he's willing to go about it has changed.

Yeah, he at least got a bit more specific about that. Now, in his speech, he continued to insist the US buy Greenland from Denmark, and he really framed the US as having a right to Greenland, given the US's defense of Europe and World War II. He also spoke disdainfully about Greenland a couple of times, calling it just a piece of ice. But maybe most striking was when Trump insisted on the US his right to Greenland, saying he expected negotiations would lead to US ownership. But Trump also said he won't use force to make that happen. Here's what he said.

We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstable. But I won't do that. Now everyone's saying, Oh, good. That's probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would Use force. I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force.

So in short, saying, Our military really could put the hurt on someone, but don't worry, we won't use it. I mean, this was a remarkable speech. It included a lot of what are by now typical but nevertheless pretty outrageous statements that the 2020 election was rigged. There were insults towards Somalia. He took some swings at Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. But this speech also really took aim at long-time US allies and again, demanded a large piece of another country.

All right, let's talk about those allies that Trump mentioned. What kinds of things did he say about them?

Well, a big theme here was that the US benefits the world without getting much in return in Trump's mind. This is something he talks a lot about, especially with regard to NATO, also with regard to the size of the US's military. But he really aimed that criticism at Canada, saying that Canada should appreciate the US more. Also, he really expressed anger about a speech Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carny, gave yesterday.

Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful also, but they're not. I watched your Prime Minister yesterday. He wasn't so grateful. They should be grateful to us. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements?

Now, in that speech yesterday, Carny put things in really stark terms, saying that there's a rupture in the long-standing international order of cooperation as a result of the US's belligerent foreign policy choices, like using tariff threats and just bullying other countries. Carnie also said in that speech that Canada stands fully behind Denmark and Greenland. Well, Trump apparently didn't like any of that. Beyond that, in his speech, he chastised NATO Secretary General Mark Ruda at one point. He talked about a Swiss leader who, as Trump put it, rubbed him the wrong way when it came to tariffs. Really, Trump had upset a lot of countries going into Davos, and to put it mildly, he was not concerned with smoothing any of that over.

One more thing, because Trump had said the speech would be about affordability in the economy, did he eventually get to that?

He did. Towards the end of the speech, he talked about some of his new proposals to cap credit card interest rates, to help people buy homes. He also, at various points, like he does often, he hyped the US economy. But again, what continues to be notable right now is how Trump keeps pulling everyone's attention, including his own, away from that economic message with his foreign policy choices.

That's NPR's Daniel Kurtzleman. Thanks a lot. Thank you. The Justice Department has issued subpoenas to multiple public officials in Minnesota in an investigation alleging they are impeding the work of immigration agents.

Yeah, and this is happening as the Trump administration is cracking down and saying it's targeting undocumented immigrants. At times, it's also targeted US citizens in Minnesota. Doctors there now say immigrants are avoiding vital medical care.

Npr, Sergio Martínez Beltrán is in Minneapolis. So, Sergio, DOJ subpoenas serve to Minnesota Democrats. What's that about?

Yes, the grand jury subpoenas went out to several local and state leaders. They include Minnesota Governor Tim Walsh, State Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, and Saint Paul Mayor Cooley Herr. The Department of Justice accuses those officials of conspiring to impede the Feds on immigration enforcement. Now, you'll remember A comment Mayor Frey made after the deadly shooting of Renee McLean Good by an ICE agent two weeks ago. Fry called on ICE agents to get out of Minneapolis, and Governor Walls encouraged residents to protest peacefully and to record the operations carried out by immigration authorities. He wants the public to help create a database with evidence for future prosecutions. Leaders with the Trump administration said yesterday that Walls and Fry are using heated rhetoric and accusations to distract from the facts.

Doj subpoenas are serious stuff. So what are Minnesota officials saying?

They have suggested they are unfaced by these subpoenas. They say it's an intimidation tactic by the Trump administration, one where they're weaponizing the Justice Department. Mayor Fry said, We should not have to live in a country where people fear that federal law enforcement will be used to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with.

And so you're part of the reason state officials have pushed back is because of what they say is ICE's illegal actions in their state.

Yeah, US citizens have been detained, and ICE agents have intimidated people who follow them to alert neighbors of their presence. Federal agents have used pepper spray on protesters, and they're pulling people from their cars. However, Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol Chief in charge of the operations, justified the behavior of his agents in a press conference yesterday.

What we do is legal, ethical, and moral. Everything we do every day is legal, ethical, moral, well-grounded in law.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that ICE agents cannot arrest, pepper spray, or retaliate against peaceful protesters and observers.

Now, you've been there for the last two weeks. Tell us how these operations affect the day-to-day lives of people there.

It's incredible. It feels like there are agents everywhere, and you can see them in residential neighborhoods, the bus stops, parking lots, and two things are notable here. One, some businesses are losing money big time. I talked to Ricardo Hernández. He owns 11 Mexican restaurants in the region.

Todos estamos a.

He says he's lost 60% in revenue since the beginning of the year. And just so you have an idea, during the height of the COVID pandemic, Hernández's sales went down by just 10%. Hernández says if this continues, businesses will have to shut down for good. Medical care has also been affected. Dozens of Minnesota doctors in a news conference yesterday said patients afraid of being picked up by ICE are staying home. They say pregnant women are missing prenatal visits. They worry about and patient privacy. One doctor said a mom was afraid to seek care for her baby who was having trouble breathing for fear she'd be detained.

Wow. All right. That's NPR's Sergio Martínez Beltrán in Minneapolis. Thanks a lot.

You're welcome.

The US Supreme Court hears arguments today in a case that has Wall Street and the financial markets in a near panic.

At issue is President Trump's efforts to break with 112 years of law and precedent by firing Lisa Cooke, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, appointed by President Biden.

Npr Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg has more on this. Nina, let's just set the stage for this case being argued right after a huge blow up between President Trump and Jerome Powell, the Fed Reserve Board Chairman, who was actually appointed Fed Chair in 2018 by Trump himself.

Well, Trump has been pressuring Powell for months, trying to get him to lower interest rates more quickly. This is, after Well, an election year, and that would be very helpful to the President and his party. But Powell has proceeded with caution. Then a week and a half ago, the Trump administration hit the Fed with grand jury subpoenas that threatened Powell with criminal indictment for his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. Testimony that dealt with cost overruns at two Federal Reserve buildings being renovated for the first time since the 1930s. The normally reticent Powell finally blew. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public rather than following the preferences of the President. Indeed, Congress established the Federal Reserve Board 112 years ago after a series of financial panics in the late 1800s. In an effort to stabilize the economy, the legislative branch sought to shield monetary policy from political manipulation by establishing limited terms for Fed governors and barring them from being fired except for bad behavior.

Yeah, that's a video statement by Jerome Powell was quite the thing because normally we don't really hear from the Fed chair, but we're hearing a lot from him. Okay, so what is the legal question at the Supreme Court today?

The issue is, at least superficially, quite narrow. Trump's lawyers will tell the Supreme Court that he's not asking for a free pass to fire Cook. He's firing her for a cause. Namely, the administration claims that she committed mortgage fraud in obtaining loans on two different properties because she listed two homes as her primary residences, but at different times. The charges against her were lodged initially by Bill Pulte, a Trump ally who, as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, referred Cooke's alleged misdeeds to the Justice Department for potential prosecution. Cooke, for her part, denies any wrongdoing whatsoever. Her lawyers point to recent reporting that four of Trump's cabinet members, plus his Deputy Attorney General, and even Pulte's own relatives, have recently made applications for multiple mortgages similar to Cook's without any suggestion of wrongdoing.

Okay, so what is Trump arguing?

The Trump administration argues that once the President has determined that he has caused to fire a Fed board member, that decision is not reviewable by any court. That's a big caveat that essentially would hand the President, this President, and future Presidents, unrestricted power to fire members of the Fed and replace them with their personal pics.

That's NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg. Nina, thanks.

Thank you.

That's Up First for Wednesday, January 21st. I'm E. Martinez.

I'm Leila Fauden. The news you hear on Up Up First is possible because of support from listeners like you. When you give to your local NPR station, you help keep journalists on the ground here at home and around the world. You can make a donation at donate. Npr. Org/upfirst. For more news and conversations, listen to our radio show, Morning Edition. You can find it on your local NPR station or at npr. Org.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Gigi Duban, Chris Nadef Kalamur, Mohamed Elbar-Deecey, and Alice Hopefully, it was produced by Zeeh Butsch, Ben Abrams, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Our supervisor producer is Michael Lipken. Join us again tomorrow. There is a lot of fear these days that AI could be a bubble. So, nick, is it? I don't know. Right. It is hard to tell. But there are some clues that economists say might help us predict bubbles. On the Planet Money podcast, The Dark Art of Bubble Detection.

Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

What if the secret to cleaning up hazardous waste or slowing down climate change lives in our bathroom?

Weird slimy things in shower heads, stuff growing in dishwashers, hot water heaters. They're really strange us on a treasure hunt for microbes, which may hold clues for saving the world.

Listen to Shortwave on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcast.