Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: This has been quite a year for those political and
Speaker 2: business leaders who've been trying to keep up with the
Speaker 2: blizzard of announcements that have come from Donald Trump's White House.
Speaker 2: In Europe, the transatlantic relationship has been upended by tariffs,
Speaker 2: public criticism, and tensions over Greenland and Russia's war in Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Joining us now to discuss all of that is the
Speaker 2: US Ambassador to Belgium, Bill White is in our Brussels studio.
Speaker 2: Great to see you, Arian, Thank you very much for
Speaker 2: joining us here. I wonder, given that backdrop, do you
Speaker 2: have a much more difficult job than your predecessors?
Speaker 3: Interesting question? No, actually, I will tell you. Yesterday I
Speaker 3: went to one of the largest potato processing plants called Agristo.
Speaker 3: They are making a billion dollar investment in America. Was
Speaker 3: talking with Google and Amazon. They are making a six
Speaker 3: billion dollar investment here in Belgium. Belgium US trade is
Speaker 3: off the chart. I have a list of thirty billion
Speaker 3: dollars worth of deals that we're working to close from
Speaker 3: Belgium to the United States. Princess Astrod You know America
Speaker 3: doesn't have a princess. You guys over here have kings
Speaker 3: and queens and princesses. It's not something we're accustomed to
Speaker 3: in the United States. And the King's sister went to
Speaker 3: America with about one hundred and fifty Belgian business people,
Speaker 3: and those deals are the deals we're focused on closing.
Speaker 3: What I try to do is to stay away from
Speaker 3: the noise, as I call it. There are obviously some
Speaker 3: things we can talk about, a US policy being at
Speaker 3: the top of the list here as some of the
Speaker 3: things that you mentioned, but those are not affecting the
Speaker 3: deals that we are working on. We are working on
Speaker 3: a fifty billion dollar LNG deal here with Belgium which
Speaker 3: would provide which would provide relief for the trade deal.
Speaker 3: You know, it's required by the trade deal for Europe
Speaker 3: to buy seven hundred and fifty billion dollars of US energy.
Speaker 3: This would be fifty billion right off the top. So
Speaker 3: some of those things that you're talking about, of course
Speaker 3: are very topical and pulse and blinking. But on the
Speaker 3: trade front, people want to do business, and I'm so
Speaker 3: glad that those other things are not causing those entities
Speaker 3: to stop looking at doing deals with the United States.
Speaker 2: But I think perhaps referring to them as noise might
Speaker 2: feel like an understatement to some of the people who
Speaker 2: are following issues like Greenland so closely. You're someone who's
Speaker 2: known the president for many, many years. I wonder, as
Speaker 2: a diplomat and as somebody who knows Donald Trump, what
Speaker 2: should we be expecting him to do next when it
Speaker 2: comes to Greenlands.
Speaker 3: Well, two things. President Trump has been speaking about Greenland
Speaker 3: for a long long time, and I don't think the
Speaker 3: Danes were listening. I'll be honest with you, but I
Speaker 3: will state that I was very happy to hear that
Speaker 3: the meetings yesterday at the White House between the Danish
Speaker 3: Prime Minister and our great Vice President and my favorite
Speaker 3: Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. These are two wonderful human
Speaker 3: beings that I've known very well. As you said, I've
Speaker 3: known presis than In Trump for over thirty five years.
Speaker 3: The strategic military importance of Greenland cannot be underestimated. It
Speaker 3: is not good for you and me sitting here for Chinese,
Speaker 3: Russian nuclear submarines and anything else that could threaten the
Speaker 3: security of the United States, NATO, and Europe to be
Speaker 3: traveling free and clear through that area whenever they please.
Speaker 3: And so for those reasons, and some reasons we really
Speaker 3: can't explain on the radio on the TV here at
Speaker 3: Bloomberg that are so sensitive and must be addressed. So
Speaker 3: I am hoping and I believe there will be a
Speaker 3: productive framework between President Trump the Prime Minister of Denmark,
Speaker 3: and this will lead to a more secure Greenland and
Speaker 3: that is secure for NATO, Europe and the US.
Speaker 1: Nay, So, Denmark and Greenland have denied that that threat
Speaker 1: is there in the way that the United States describes
Speaker 1: there is a concern in Europe about military intervention in Greenland?
Speaker 1: How likely do you think that might be? And therefore
Speaker 1: the real concern about the end of NATO. And I
Speaker 1: was listening to your remarks earlier on Bloomberg Television that
Speaker 1: you were saying that you know you're in the capital
Speaker 1: of you know, the place where NATO has its headquarters,
Speaker 1: that that alliance seventy eighty years old, could be over.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, first of all, with all due respect, I
Speaker 3: think that whoever is making those statements, I know you're
Speaker 3: not making those statements, is ridiculous. President Trump, let me finish, please. Yeah,
Speaker 3: President Trump is the greatest supporter that NATO has ever known,
Speaker 3: and we'll ever know, he is the only person who
Speaker 3: helped to save NATO. He has raised over half a
Speaker 3: trillion dollars by pushing and indeed the beginning, it was
Speaker 3: very much of a pushback from these countries to say, well, no,
Speaker 3: just want America to keep paying for our defense. That's
Speaker 3: not a fair burden sharing. America was doing this for
Speaker 3: so long, and I am so proud of President Trump
Speaker 3: for securing the coalition of the willing for burden sharing.
Speaker 3: They are all now agreed to pay five percent. This
Speaker 3: is a massive, great economic program as well, because the
Speaker 3: expenditure of those funds will create jobs here in Europe.
Speaker 3: Europe's GDP compared to the United States ten years ago,
Speaker 3: is almost half the GDP of Germany, the most industrialized
Speaker 3: nation in all of Europe. Per capita is less than
Speaker 3: the teeny tiny state of West Virginia, just a.
Speaker 2: Daughter strength has elements to those figures. Okay, figures, Okay,
Speaker 2: but look, I'm curious.
Speaker 3: But the point is. The point is there is no
Speaker 3: greater person in the world who's supporting that than Donald Trump.
Speaker 3: On top of which he cares so much about Europe.
Speaker 3: He does care about Europe, and that's why the policy
Speaker 3: initiatives are are hoping and driving Europe to be a better,
Speaker 3: less regulated, more business focused.
Speaker 2: Is the continent to the ends, justify the means really.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, European countries are committing more to spending
Speaker 2: on defense, but there's been huge damage to the Transatlantic
Speaker 2: relationship and people are viewing America and a different like
Speaker 2: now it's not worth us.
Speaker 3: I think people should be viewing the relationship as a
Speaker 3: strong one, as one that challenges each other. I think
Speaker 3: the way we were doing things for a way too
Speaker 3: long was not a good situation for Europe, and you
Speaker 3: can see what has happened to Europe with overregulation. I
Speaker 3: heard the word I learned new words by the way
Speaker 3: when I come to Belgium. The word for a protest
Speaker 3: is a manifestation that's acute. The word for deregulation is simplification.
Speaker 3: It makes sense to me these rules have to be
Speaker 3: simplified for US and European businesses to just go back
Speaker 3: to doing business instead of fighting about policy and personalities.
Speaker 3: So I am very proud of what President Trump is
Speaker 3: trying to achieve here in Europe, which is to make
Speaker 3: Europe better than it is, make Europe stronger than it
Speaker 3: is make Europe more strategic, and it's thinking about policy
Speaker 3: so that it can encourage business. Europe has been spending
Speaker 3: way out of control on social programs. Illegal migration issues
Speaker 3: are affecting Europe. These are things that we are addressing
Speaker 3: in the United States. By the election of Donald Trump
Speaker 3: by over eight million votes, I think a lot of
Speaker 3: people I talked to here in Belgium would like a
Speaker 3: change as well. The business people here would like a
Speaker 3: change as well.
Speaker 1: I suppose the question is about whether or not that
Speaker 1: is up to voters in Europe in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: very elected leaders. Also, Belgium is a big customer in
Speaker 1: terms of US defense material, notably F thirty five jets.
Speaker 1: Are you concerned or do you have any views about
Speaker 1: this business potentially going to European defense companies in the future.
Speaker 1: Obviously the EU guidelines are focused on prioritizing European companies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're talking about the aid money that was provided
Speaker 3: by the EU for Ukraine loan program. There is a
Speaker 3: provision in there. I don't know if if if you're
Speaker 3: aware of this that a certain percentage would be a
Speaker 3: lot of two US companies. So the thinking there one
Speaker 3: of the things I heard was the thinking there came
Speaker 3: from Ukraine and the leadership at the EU. So again
Speaker 3: there's there's a lot I say noise, meaning don't always
Speaker 3: believe what you hear and read. Do your research, find
Speaker 3: out what's really going on. That's what I tried to do.
Speaker 3: I try to focus on the one or two things
Speaker 3: that we can get along, so you're.
Speaker 2: Not you're not worried about that business going to European companies.
Speaker 3: No. We just met with the Defense minister here the
Speaker 3: other day. They are purchasing eleven new F thirty fives.
Speaker 3: We have major patriot missile batteries and am rams that
Speaker 3: go along with that sale. We're talking over eight billion
Speaker 3: dollars of US military sales to Belgium, and of course
Speaker 3: Belgium and other countries have the right to buy munitions
Speaker 3: and machinery from other countries. I think we have a
Speaker 3: better product for the value, and that's my job also
Speaker 3: to be helping defense industries co produce and collaborate with
Speaker 3: businesses here in Europe. I think we're making the tail
Speaker 3: of the F thirty five. Here in Belgium, we're making
Speaker 3: F thirty fives. In Italy we are partnering with Swedish
Speaker 3: and German and British interests on military defense. So I
Speaker 3: like to focus on where we can cooperate than where
Speaker 3: we can disagree.
Speaker 2: Now, you are the ambassador to Belgium, and I want
Speaker 2: to talk about how closely aligned you feel the Belgium
Speaker 2: is with US positions on issues like, for example, the
Speaker 2: use of frozen Russian assets. Are they a good representative
Speaker 2: for US issues at the EU table?
Speaker 3: I thought of it like that. Yes, I think we
Speaker 3: are aligned on so many more things than we may
Speaker 3: be deciding to argue about. I haven't really heard anything
Speaker 3: we're arguing about at the moment between Belgium and the US.
Speaker 3: And I think President Trump was supportive in a special
Speaker 3: way about making sure that these Russian sovereign assets here
Speaker 3: in Euroclear were safe and secure so that this could
Speaker 3: also be used in the negotiating table by Steve Wikoff
Speaker 3: and the President and Secretary of Rubio. If that money
Speaker 3: was not here and someone had taken it or borrowed it,
Speaker 3: or played with it, or deployed it or invested it
Speaker 3: for whatever purposes they were thinking, I think it would
Speaker 3: be very dangerous for the negotiating table. Interests that are
Speaker 3: going on. So the fact that Bart de Waiver, who
Speaker 3: is the I think a great prime Minister of Belgium,
Speaker 3: stood up to the EU pressure on this is very admirable.
Speaker 3: I think it was very hard for him to do that,
Speaker 3: but I'm very proud of him for doing that. Because
Speaker 3: if you're a business part listen, you're on Bloomberg, people
Speaker 3: understand this. If you have a clearinghouse that clears forty
Speaker 3: five trillion trillion dollars a year, you cannot mess with
Speaker 3: that system. And the uncertainty and instability of taking that
Speaker 3: money out would have been catastrophic