BENSON BYTE: Ari Fleischer Discusses Trump's Pro-America Greenland and NATO Strategy

Now it's time for another Guy Benson, Guy Benson Fight, where we bring you the day's most interesting interviews in a bite-sized package. For the full episode, visit Guy Benson.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. And Ari Fleischer was kind enough to hang on through the break. And Ari, former White House Presbytery, of course, and Fox News contributor. We're talking about Scotland. We're talking about Henry VIII and the ambition here with President Trump and Greenland. Let me just kind of reset the question, the conversation. I'll just ask you this, Ari, to begin. Do you think the acquisition of Greenland is in America's best interest? Oh, there's no question about it. It's in America's best interest. I think, and you know, America is a changing country. Who says for 250 years our borders, our territories, our possessions are only one thing, that we're locked on a map and once done, always done? No, the country changes. American Samoa, Puerto Rico. There have been different parts of Alaska, Hawaii, of course. So it's new relatively for most of our lifetimes for something to come along that becomes a part of America. But that looks like what we're going to do for pockets, pieces of Greenland that really are going to be just military bases. I don't think it's going to change the life of people on Greenland. So a lot of this got exaggerated. A lot of it was overhyped. President Trump, as typical, goes in for a negotiation with a very over-the-top first offer, gets everybody all off balance, and then ends up with what he wants. And in this case, it's good for America. It's good for a national defense. It's good for NATO. Did you ever think he was going to go and invade Greenland to bring a bunch of dog sleds and guys in furry coats? No. I never thought he was going to go use military force to do so. If he had, it would have been horrible, absolutely horrible. But, you know, you need to do these things with the agreement of the people you're doing it with or two. You know, you don't want to put an American military base in a hostile environment. You want to have it somewhere where the people support it. And that's ultimately, I think, what's going to happen here. The Golden Dome concept of being able to use Greenland strategically to shoot down ICBMs if they're coming from Russia or China. I mean, that's certainly in Europe's best interest, too. And you could see why NATO is on board with this now, finally. The resistance early on by NATO was surprising to me. It really was. And I don't know how much of that was them just trying to be tough. But I tell you what I think was one of the biggest political mistakes. was California Governor Gavin Newsom coming out and essentially telling Europe to bring the knee pads and stand up to Donald Trump. It's like, dude, you know, politics may end at the water's edge. You've not only crossed the water's edge, you've gone and sided with the people who are against what's in the United States best interest and what's in Europe's best interest. And what's so amazing having seen so many different United States presidents try to get NATO to increase spending, it took the bull in the China shot Donald Trump to actually get them to do it. Even after Russia invaded Ukraine, I mean, Europe will not stand up for itself. They need to be pushed and prodded to do so. And Donald Trump has broken the pattern. The normal diplomatic, nice, kind, say with a good heart to Europe, we really would like you to do this. They ignore us.

They ignore the United States because they know the United States will always come to their bat with our national defense. And we pay the price as Americans. Donald Trump said we're not doing that anymore. And that's why he got results. Look, it's such a big pattern of Trumpism. Be the bull in the China shop. Be the one that everybody yells. How can you do that? You're breaking with the way things have always been done before, even though what was done before did not work. Trump just focuses on getting the bottom line done at his own political peril because he can be a little tough on people. Yes, he can be a little tough on people. And that's his style and that's his strategy, obviously. And yet he also is very good, I think, about bringing out the worst in his enemies. It's one of the things that, I mean, our mutual friend Dana Prino has said before, Trump is blessed with the worst opposition. And in this case now, some of the worst opposition are some of these world leaders who have been condemning this. And they just sound like they're completely foolish. now with NATO coming out and supporting this, they look really, really bad. I want to play a clip for you, Ari Fleischer, if I could. This is NATO General Secretary, Mark Rutte, Sr., saying that the president is doing exactly what he hoped he would do when he was reelected. This is cut number seven. If President Trump would not have been re-elected, no. And then in June in DeHague, we agreed on this 5% defense spending, including the 3.5% on core defense, equalizing with the US. Would that ever have happened? If President Trump would not have been re-elected as President 47 of the United States, absolutely not. And now today, this agreement on working collectively on this deal getting done on the Arctic region, I think where he can really commend him for taking. that leadership. Well, he is the leader of the free world. He is the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, the biggest ally in NATO. He is doing exactly what I hope he would do when he was re-elected, knowing him from his first term in office. I mean, for the guy in charge of NATO to say he's doing exactly what I hoped he would do, that's probably the best endorsement you could possibly get, considering that the left said he was going to destroy NATO. Yeah, he's going to get his EU passport revoked if he keeps talking like that. Yeah, I mean, it takes a military man. And Mark Bruté is a strong leader who wants NATO to be strong. And his problem is NATO consists of European nations, with the exceptions of pretty much Poland, Lithuania, Lafay, Estonia, and the United Kingdom. Those are the only nations that have been spending money on national defense. Those are the only nations that have strong militaries. You know, when they sent a couple dozen troops to Greenland to reinforce it the other day, I was amazed they were even able to get transportation to Greenland. Europe can't fly. NATO in Europe cannot fly its own military into hotspots. The Europeans have decided to spend their money on social welfare, not on national defense.

And they always, as I said, counted on the United States to bail them out. Now they need to spend their own money. And that finally is happening. That's why a guy like Herta is such a strong leader and a welcome voice, but he still has to work through the laggards. And Canada is the biggest and worst laggards. Spain is another laggard. Italy is a laggard. France is a laggard. Germany is a laggard. They understand the threat from Russia. They're spending on national defense. United Kingdom, they've always been different from the rest of Europe. But Canada and most of Europe, they still have a long way to go. It's almost like Ari Fleischer knew I was going to play a montage for him. Of some of the world leaders he just named. So without further ado, you are psychic, my friend. Here's cut number eight. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. But it's clear that we are reaching a time of instability of unbalances. You have the choice between your self-respect. Being a happy vessel is wanting, being a miserable slave is something else. It is time to seize this opportunity and build a new independent Europe. Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Fox Newswineshop.com with code FNRadio 20. 20% discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31st, 2026. Must be 21 order to order. Please drink responsibly. I'd say it's, it's, it's, that was a murderer's row there. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, French President Emmanuel Macron, Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Weaver and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. I mean, it's exactly the point you just made and probably why the NATO Secretary General is going to have his EU passport revoked. And when I hear the EU Secretary General say, build a new independent Europe, my reaction is do it. If you can build anything in Europe anymore, go ahead and do it. You won't be able to build it because your workers will all go on strike or they're on vacation. So Europe has so much fundamental to address. Now, the German chancellor today, he gave remarks where he said that Europe has bogged itself down in over-regulation, and we are making it so we cannot compete. And it was refreshing to hear that from a German leader. The German industry is still strong. Their military is not, but at least they still have an industrial base, unlike France, unlike several of these other nations. The morass of Europe, the weakness of Europe is deeply troubling, and Russia knows it, and that's why Russia is trying to take advantage. China knows it. That's why they're trying to take advantage. This is entirely brought on by Europeans themselves. And it's in pursuit of social welfare states. That's Europe's greatest problem. And thank goodness we Americans for 250 years have been different from the stock we came from. It's what's made America great. It's what's made America free. It's made us strong. And the biggest difference is we focus on the individual and on merit. They focus on the collective and all still have a tendency toward socialism.

And Ari Fleischer, when you think about guys like Gavin Newsom going over to Davos and just being so critical to Donald Trump, and obviously he's running for president. I mean, this is his big audition on the world stage here. And he's probably the frontrunner on the Democrat Party because I just, I do not believe that there's anyone coalescing around Kamala Harris. How does this make Gavin Newsom look in the eyes of other Democrats? Does this make him look like the strong guy who's going up against Donald Trump? Or does this make him look like he is? somebody who's going to hurt himself in the general election because he's being, I don't know, antithetical to what's in America's best interest. Well, I'm afraid that that beautiful phrase politics ends at the water's edge stopped a couple decades ago. When the vitriol that was said about George W. Bush, when Bush was abroad and then when other leaders went abroad and talked about Bush, that broke the seal, really. And it's gotten worse since then. Look, as far as the Democrats go, I think anybody who stands up to Donald Trump has seen well in democratic eyes. Their whole party is not defined by any ideas or ideology or ways to think anything's better in the United States. It's to stand up to Trump. It's to fight Trump all the time. So in that sense, it may have helped them moderately. I think, Rich, we're going to have some 10 to 15, maybe even 20 Democrats running. It's an open cycle for both sides, but on the Democrat side, wide open cycle, no front runner, and everybody is going to jockey and vibe for position. I don't blame a publicity hunting presidential candidate from going to Switzerland to try to score points for his side. That's the way politics works. Gavin Newsom's got bigger problems, and that's his record in the state of California. That'll be a killer for him and a general. What do you think about John Fetterman? Senator John Fetterman coming out again today or yesterday coming out and saying, look, ICE is doing their job, and it's ridiculous the way that my party is going after them and attacking them. He's probably going to face the primary in Pennsylvania, no doubt about that. Oh, yeah. I mean, it would be crazy to think that he's going to avoid one. I guess the question is, how does he do it? And then contrast that Ari Fleischer, if you could, with Josh Shapiro, who, of course, is also running for president in 2028 and is taking a different tack. You know, he's taking the tack that Donald Trump is basically in using ICE, like they're thugs. You know, John Fetterman is a throwback to the way many Democrat senators were 20 years ago. There used to be conservative, thoughtful Democrats. They were principal Democrats, but especially on foreign policy and law enforcement. They were conservative. John Fetterman was common some 20, 25 years ago. Now he's the last one standing, the only one left. Josh, and I think he, I don't even know what his future is. I don't know that he can survive a primary in Pennsylvania. Josh Shapiro, he'll be one of those 10, 15, 20 candidates out there running. I think Josh Shapiro's biggest vulnerability in a Democrat Party is his faith. Yeah. I just cannot see the Democrats supporting anybody who is Jewish. I mean, Joe Lieberman was the Jewish vice presidential nominee that I worked against. And when I worked for Bush Cheney against.

Gore Lieberman. But it was not a question. It was not an issue for the man's faith. Now the Democrats won't support the nomination of anybody Jewish. I just can't imagine that happening because their basis shifted so much. So Josh Shapiro will be interesting. He is a record of accomplishment and bipartisanship in Pennsylvania. But as a first-time presidential candidate, I think he's a long shot. And have we gotten to the bottom of whether or not he was ever an Israeli double agent? Right. Yeah, that's a good question to ask, isn't it? I mean, unbelievable in that vetting that they asked him that. But yet, hey, look, he was still willing to go out there in campaign, right? And grandstand and use the opportunity to speak at the Democrat National Convention. So as offended as he claims to be in his new book, it's like, you know, Ophelia Duth protest too much. He had no problem going out there and backing Kamala Harris because it was good for Josh Shapiro at the time. Though I don't think he ever wanted to be on that ticket. I think he sabotaged his chances purposely. Because he knew that that train wreck, it was a train wreck dumpster fire of a political ticket. And Josh Shapiro's ambitious and nothing wrong with ambition. But I do not see him in any kind of mold as a moderate Democrat, a reasonable Democrat. He'll be just as liberal as he needs to be to win a nomination if that's what it takes. And when you think about the liberal positions that these Democrats have to take, the trans issue, I wrote the other day that I think it's the new third rail of Democrat politics, because obviously even he wouldn't answer the question of can a man become a woman and, you know, can a dude get pregnant, Rahm Emanuel being the only one who could, and he's not even a serious candidate for 2028. So they want this issue to go away, but it's not going to go away. It can't go away because the Democrat Party base. is still all in on this issue. And they're not willing to let it go. It's amazing to me, isn't it? I mean, just common sense, logic, I don't understand the thinking. I suppose it's just a pander to people who are trans, an important, small part of the Democratic base. And so they have to say it. I mean, they can't believe it in their hearts. So much for science. Right, right. So much for being the Party of Science. I guess it comes down to the fact that the Democrat Party let Crazy in, and now Crazy has become their base, and that's who you have to appeal to when you run in a primary, right? You've got to appeal to your base. And I make the same case about the way they look at ICE. You know, their goal here is to let people flood America coming over the borders illegally, which they wanted to have happen. And once they got here, did this declare them safe like it's a game of tag? Once you made it, you're on base and you can't leave. You can't be thrown out. Their bigger goal is, of course, to have congressional representation that's based on the number of people in the United States. So illegals get Democrats, more members of Congress and cities. And then federal spending is based on the apportionment of the population.

Ari Fleischer, check out his latest book, suppression, deception, snobbery, and bias why the press gets so much wrong and just doesn't care. Thanks, my man. This was great. Great to be with you. Thank you. That was yet another Guy Benson bite. For full episodes of Guy Benson, go to Guy Benson.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to the show ad free on Fox News Podcast Plus on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music with your prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.