-Donald Trump addressed world leaders in Davos and gave a very normal speech in which he repeatedly confused Greenland with Iceland, called windmills losers, said US gives Canada freebies, mocked the president of France for wearing sunglasses, made up a new country called "Aberbaijan," and told the crowd in Switzerland -- where the majority of people speak German -- that without the United States they would be speaking German, which is what they already speak. For more on this, it's time for. .
. [ Cheers and applause ] Okay, Wally, show me the next card. -Sorry, Seth.
-[ Bleep ] Fine. For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look. " ♪♪ We keep harping on this because in many ways it's the single most overlooked fact of American politics right now.
Donald Trump is very unpopular. -A new poll from The Economist shows President Trump's approval rating is on the slide just one year into his second term. Just 37% of Americans approve of the job the president has been doing.
-A new CBS news YouGov poll asked Americans how they feel about his presidency. The top answer, 54%, said uneasy. 51% responded frustrated.
47% say they feel unsafe, 42% are exhausted, 25% replied they are confident, and 21% are satisfied. -Only 21% were satisfied? Did they pull Americans or my ex-girlfriends?
-Rim shot! [ Laughter ] -Sorry, we can't afford to pay a drummer for an actual rim shot anymore, so we just had to record someone saying the words "rim shot. " We're also out of money for music, so going forward, the title card for this segment will sound like this.
-Time. . .
for "A Closer Look. " [ Laughter ] -I also have to ask -- [ Cheers and applause ] I have to ask, only -- only 42% of Americans are exhausted? And the other 58%, are they, what, drinking Red Bull -- now with cocaine?
The only people I know who aren't exhausted are my kids, who keep coming into our bedroom at 3:00 in the morning like it's the middle of the day. Last night, my daughter said the back of her knee hurt and my son said he had a dream where orcas lived on land, to which I said, "At least one of you is [bleep] lying! " You guys, I'm starting to think I'd be exhausted no matter who the president was, but Trump isn't helping, and I'm not the only one.
Trump's also facing stiff opposition abroad. -We're watching large protests take place in Greenland and Denmark today, as President Trump escalates his threats to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory. -At the US Embassy in Copenhagen today, protesters show their support for Greenland's sovereignty.
-Visitors in Davos could see a glow in those snow-capped mountains after the sunset this evening, after a group of 10 local residents hiked up the mountain with 450 torches to spell out one message that shone down across the valley -- "No kings. " -That's in Switzerland. Their whole thing is being neutral.
When you don't want to take sides in an argument, you say, "I'm Switzerland. " Now if you say mid-argument that you're Switzerland, it means you're about to go up to the top of a mountain to leave a message written in fire. [ Laughter ] That's how unpopular Trump is.
Angry villagers are trying to scare him with torches like he's Frankenstein. [ Laughter ] And not the sexy Jacob Elordi Frankenstein either. [ Cheers and applause ] Guillermo del Toro, stop making us horny for monsters!
What's next? Hot Bigfoot played by Paul Mescal? [ Cheers and applause ] You know what?
I said it as a joke, but now I'm kind of into it. And look, it's not just the locals in Copenhagen and Davos. Even world leaders are aghast and confused Trump's behavior.
And we know that from private text messages that were leaked by Trump himself. -Trump has come out on Truth Social and posted what appears to be a text message chain with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. This is what it seems Macron has written to the president.
Again, all we know is that this is what Trump has posted. It says from President Macron to President Trump. .
. -Again, to be clear, Trump posted that message quite possibly before he read all the way to the end. [ As Trump ] "Oh, Macron wrote.
Let's see here. 'My friend. .
. ' That's nice. Okay.
'. . .
in line on Syria. ' That's very good to hear. Good to hear.
'. . .
great things on Iran. ' You know what? This is all very positive.
I've read enough. Let's get this out to the public. " "You sure you don't want to just read to the end, sir?
" [ As Trump ] "I've already read, like, all of it. It's such a long text. Put me in the 42% of Americans who are exhausted.
" [ Laughter ] In fact, Denmark did something that would have been unthinkable not long ago. They sent military assets to Greenland to protect it from us. -As Trump ramps up his threats, Denmark now increasing their military presence in Greenland and asking other NATO allies to help.
Sweden today also sending troops. -That's right. Sweden is now on a war footing against the United States.
Of course, we all know they've been waging psychological warfare for years with their insidious directions. [ Laughter ] If history is any guide, this means Republicans are going to start calling Swedish meatballs freedom balls. [ Chuckles ] The same people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th are going to storm their local Ikea.
"We're taking the EKTORP and the ASKERSUND for America! " [ Laughter ] So in his speech to Davos today, Trump responded to the unrest he's caused by claiming both that he wouldn't use force to take Greenland, but also if he did, he could absolutely wreck Denmark. -We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable.
But. . .
I won't do that. Okay? Now everyone's saying, "Oh, good.
" That's probably the biggest statement I made, 'cause 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. -Okay, but when you say it like that, it sounds like you might still use force. [ Laughter ] Also, people thought you might use force because you refused to rule out using force.
That's one of the many frustrating things about the Trump era. He quotes us quoting him, and that makes us sound crazy. Like he could say, [as Trump] "I was watching Seth Meyers last night -- bad guy -- and he said I was threatening to take over Greenland, which is a part of Denmark, because I didn't get a Nobel Peace Prize, which comes from Norway.
I mean, that's crazy. Can you believe they let this guy on TV? " And I'd be like, "But that's what you wrote!
" [ Laughter ] And it wouldn't matter. They'd still put me in an institution, which was my plan all along, because in an institution, my kids can't [bleep] wake me up. [ Laughter ] I'm gonna sleep like a baby in my straitjacket.
So, Trump's now suddenly acting like he was never gonna use force to seize Greenland. I wonder where everyone got that idea. -The White House is explicitly putting the threat of military action against a NATO ally on the table in the case of Greenland.
This is a new statement from Karoline Leavitt just in to CNBC moments ago. She says. .
. -Greenland should be part of the United States. Nobody's gonna fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.
-Greenland should make the deal 'cause Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over. They don't go there. It's very far away from Greenland.
And Greenland, basically, their defense is two dogsleds. Do you know that? Do you know what their defense is?
Two dog sleds. -Oh, I'm sorry, did I miss something? Is this the "Comedy Central Roast of Greenland"?
[ Laughter ] Can we play that back one more time? -Basically, their defense is two dog sleds. Do you know that?
Do you know what their defense is? Two dog sleds. -Rim shot!
[ Laughter ] -And for what it's worth, I actually think sled dogs would be a very effective defense against the Trump administration, because, as we've established before, Donald Trump hates dogs. -CNN is dying like a dog. I dropped him like a dog.
He's a guy that was thrown out of his family business like a dog. I'm sweating like a dog up here. They are cheating dogs.
She lied like a dog! He was fired. Like a dog, he was fired.
She basically choked and froze like a dog. -Trump hates dogs so much that if you surrounded Greenland with an army of huskies, I think he would back off. [ As Trump ] "We better stay away from those dogs.
They're liars and they're cheaters and they sweat a lot, too. And they're angry because they just got fired. " But the point is, Trump says he wants Greenland because it is strategically crucial.
And you can tell how important it is because of the way Trump talks about it in his speech at Davos. -I'm helping Europe, I'm helping NATO, and I've -- until the last few days when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They're not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you.
I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot of money. -Greenland!
He can't even remember the name of the territory he wants to conquer. Hold on. I'm gonna try staring at the ceiling again.
[ Laughter ] Wally? We are? !
-Yeah. And there's more bad news. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] -[ Indistinct ] By the way, Joe Biden used to mix up the names of countries all the time, and it was a huge story.
But he was never threatening to invade any of the countries he was mixing up. I mean, this is so much worse. We have an addled 79-year-old with his finger on the button who could at any point order a military invasion of the wrong country.
[ As Trump ] "My fellow Americans, tonight have authorized a military operation against Iceland. We're sending the same guys we used in Minnesota because they're so comfortable with the cold. Like this guy.
" [ Indistinct shouting ] [ Laughter, cheers and applause ] "I've just been informed our troops have slipped and fallen while invaded Iceland, and they are currently surrounded by an army of lethal malamutes. " [ Laughter ] Americans don't want any of this, which is why Trump's numbers in the polls keep hitting new lows. He's already at 37%, and he's only one year into his term.
If he keeps this up, by the time he leaves office, he'll be down. . .
-Two dog sleds. -[ Chuckles ] This has been "A Closer Look. " -Time.
. . for "A Closer Look.
" [ Cheers and applause ] -Aah!
