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The Situation Room

Interview With Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE); Interview With Assistant U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired January 16, 2026 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news: Minneapolis on edge after protesters and law enforcement clash in another night of unrest.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And new reporting on the fatal shooting of Renee Good and the chaotic moments that followed. What does the Trump administration have to say about all of this? The DHS assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, is live here in THE SITUATION ROOM with us.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with breaking news. Tensions in Minneapolis are boiling over once again, as federal agents and protesters square off in the city yet again.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, 12 people were arrested last night for allegedly -- and I'm quoting now -- "assaulting law enforcement" -- end quote.

This...

BROWN: This as President Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. troops to Minnesota.

Joining us now to discuss is Tricia McLaughlin. She is the assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS.

Thank you for your time today.

TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN, ASSISTANT U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you for having me.

BROWN: So I want to start on the Insurrection Act. Is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem currently recommending to President Trump that he should invoke that and send troops to Minnesota?

MCLAUGHLIN: Of course, this is the president's full authority under the U.S. Constitution.

What we're really focused on, though, is trying to work with the state and local law enforcement officials on the ground there. So, if we can zoom out, Pamela, I think something that's very important for your viewers to know, why do we have a physical presence there at all and in the first place?

It's because of these sanctuary city policies. What are sanctuary city policies? First and foremost is the fact that, because Tim Walz and Mayor Frey have instituted these policies, we are not allowed into the jails. So, as we speak, there are over 1,400 criminal legal aliens sitting in Minneapolis' jails.

We're talking about pedophiles. We're talking about rapists, even murderers. Those individuals will not be allowed to be turned over to ICE. So that's what we have to do, is have a physical presence on the ground, so we can find those individuals when they're released and we can apprehend them.

That's why we have that large physical presence.

BROWN: And I understand. I have actually been on an ICE ride-along.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: It was much more targeted. I think what we're seeing here -- and we're going to discuss this a little bit later.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: You're seeing more sweeps. You're seeing so many more agents than what has been done in the past. So I'm going to talk about that a little bit.

But I want to follow up on the question at hand. Does DHS believe it is currently able to do its job in Minneapolis, or do you need the military to come in and help you?

MCLAUGHLIN: I'm not going to get ahead of the president here.

But what I will say, why we have surged resources, you mentioned that large footprint, the reason we're seeing that is because state and local law enforcement are not allowed to engage with us. If our law enforcement is being attacked or obstructed, which we're seeing that rampantly across the board time and time again, state and local law enforcement can't answer our calls for backup.

That means we -- the public is more at risk and our law enforcement is more at risk as well.

BLITZER: Secretary Noem, your boss...

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BLITZER: ... said yesterday she will not be pulling out of Minnesota any time soon. How many federal immigration agents are currently in that state and how many more are being sent?

MCLAUGHLIN: I can't speak to how many more are being sent. We're looking around 2,500 on the ground there.

And part of that is Homeland Security Investigations, of course. As well, you all have covered that rampant fraud we have seen out of Minneapolis, $9 billion. That's just the tip of the iceberg. So our Homeland Security investigators, they're going around, they're collecting information, following leads, and trying to get accountability for the American people.

BLITZER: Secretary Noem also told reporters yesterday that ICE may ask people to -- quote -- "validate their identity" when asked about Americans carrying proof of citizenship.

Can you clarify what exactly that means? Do American citizens as of now need to carry their passports or other immigration documents to show that they're citizens?

MCLAUGHLIN: I am so glad you asked this question, because I think that there's a lot of confusion there about this.

We have incredibly targeted immigration enforcement operations. So what's happening there, if there is reasonable suspicion, if somebody is in the vicinity of this operation, of this target, then they could be asked for their identification.

We have been vindicated by this by the Supreme Court September of 2025. You all saw a case out of Los Angeles where they said we can use reasonable suspicion. I think I have seen a lot on this network and other places where they're talking about, this is racially based.

Absolutely not. Racial animus has no place in DHS and is, of course, not used. We're using what is protected under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

BROWN: All right, let's dive a little bit deeper into that.

MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely.

BROWN: I want to play this video of a recent incident in Minnesota that has received attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an I.D. on you, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't need an I.D. to walk around in my city. This is my city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, do you have some I.D. then, please?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't need an I.D.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If not, we're going to put you in the vehicle and we're going to I.D. you, please. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am U.S. citizen. I don't need to carry around an I.D. in my home. This is my home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, where were you -- where were you born?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where were you born?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Minneapolis is my home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:05:02]

BROWN: So, that video was filmed by a woman who, as you heard, said she is a U.S. citizen.

Why exactly was she stopped? Was there reasonable suspicion, which is a legal bar, as you noted...

MCLAUGHLIN: Correct.

BROWN: ... that a crime was committed in that situation? And why was he asking her, where are you born? Like, what was he basing that on?

MCLAUGHLIN: Sure.

So either this is -- and I haven't seen this video before, so there could be two circumstances here. Either he would -- this is a targeted operation and she's around the vicinity of it, around the target. There's reasonable suspicion because there might be a descriptor. Or she could be 5'6'', and they're looking for somebody who's 5'6''.

That could be part of it. They're looking for somebody. That could be part of it. The other piece of it is, it could be, I don't know if she was obstructing law enforcement, if she was assaulting law enforcement prior to this.

But they either had those Title 8 authorities under the U.S. Code 1357 or they had that reasonable suspicion.

BROWN: But what do you say to those who watch that and other videos that they're seeing themselves?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: I mean, this is not just the mainstream media. This is, people are seeing these videos, and they're concerned, and they're concerned that a place like Minnesota is turning into a police state,and they're going up to U.S. citizens asking for I.D. and using these tactics.

So, what do you say to that?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, I think that there's a lot of fearmongering going on, I think, by the media. I think... (CROSSTALK)

BROWN: But it's not -- hold on. Let me just correct you right there. Let me just...

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I...

BROWN: They're -- they're watching these videos and using their independence of mind. It's not the media.

MCLAUGHLIN: No, actually, it is the media. And we're seeing it time and time again by saying things like the police state.

What we're seeing is rampant violence against our law enforcement, highly coordinated. We have our legal authorities. When individuals see videos like that, you have to ask the question, was this individual obstructing law enforcement, which is a federal crime?

Were they assaulting law enforcement, which is a felony? Were any of those instances occurring before this video was cut? Because you saw a very short cut. And that's why I'm talking about the media. There is not a lot of context that's being out there. And we have to be very responsible.

BROWN: Well, then why...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: ... allow ICE officers to wear cameras then?

MCLAUGHLIN: We, of course, allow them to wear...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: So they all have -- will they all have body cameras, so you can have...

MCLAUGHLIN: We are working on that with the One Big Beautiful Bill, actually.

I think we can talk about the incident from last week, where that law enforcement officer...

BROWN: Hold on. This is news, though.

MCLAUGHLIN: If I can finish.

BROWN: Yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: That law enforcement officer, he was -- he actually filmed himself being obstructed by these individuals who are on the ground who are harassing him, this vehicle being blocked in.

And that actually largely vindicated him. And, actually, everything that DHS has said up until that point was corroborated.

BROWN: Well, I mean, it hasn't been corroborated. The investigation is ongoing.

The secretary came out shortly after and said that the victim here, Renee Good, was a domestic terrorist.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: And we have spoken to many experts who said, at the very least, we don't have enough facts, there's not enough information, and it's too early in the investigation to make that claim.

And just going back to what you say about the media, we were talking to people on the ground. And, look, maybe some of them don't like ICE, they don't like law enforcement at all.

MCLAUGHLIN: Sure.

BROWN: So they could be saying this.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: But you have to look at the polling, right? This isn't the media. This is actual polling that says, hey, I like what ICE is doing in terms of its target. We want to get criminals off the street who don't belong in the country. But 51 percent say ICE makes cities less safe. Just 31 percent say it makes cities more safe.

On the Renee Good case you brought up, 26 percent of Americans viewed the shooting as an appropriate use of force, while 56 percent called it an inappropriate use of force.

So, are you willing to consider, in some cases, ICE has gone too far and is losing Americans' support?

MCLAUGHLIN: Pamela, in the last five weeks, we have arrested 2,500 criminal illegal aliens off of the streets of Minneapolis.

BROWN: No one -- people like that.

MCLAUGHLIN: If I can finish, if I can make my point -- I appreciate your having me, but I do want to be able to make my point.

BROWN: Sure.

MCLAUGHLIN: The point of the matter is, I have not seen CNN cover who some of those individuals are, an individual from Ecuador who he murdered his 3-month-old son, an individual who's perpetuating human slavery and human trafficking, scores and scores of murderers, child pedophiles.

Why does the media not talk about that? We continue to see that people love to demonize law enforcement, vilify them as they're facing a 1000 percent increase in assaults against them. And yet we're not talking about the great work that they're doing on the ground, the fact that they are risking their lives day in and day out to get these criminals off the ground, gang members, known and suspected terrorists. These are all the people that we have arrested in Minneapolis. And DHS

and Secretary Noem, President Trump, have done a phenomenal job of trying to give people transparency on who we are arresting. And yet we're standing here talking about relitigating cases over and over and over.

BROWN: Well, a U.S. citizen was killed by an ICE officer. That's fair.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I talked about the polls. It's a fair question to say, are you losing American support?

But, Wolf, I want to let you...

MCLAUGHLIN: Please.

BLITZER: Yes, no one supports attacking or killing a law enforcement officer.

MCLAUGHLIN: No.

BLITZER: Nobody supports that.

BROWN: Exactly. No one does. And...

MCLAUGHLIN: But, if I may say, you all have set -- really laying the feet at that ICE enforcement officer. We said that this was domestic...

BROWN: I said it's early in the investigation.

MCLAUGHLIN: We said that this was domestic terrorism for a reason.

This individual used a deadly weapon against our ICE law enforcement officer.

BLITZER: All right.

MCLAUGHLIN: That is and will be charged. And any of the cases -- we saw 15 of these cases over the past week alone in Minneapolis. Those will be charged as domestic terrorism.

BLITZER: When she called this 37-year-old mother of three who was driving that car a domestic terrorist, that really was outrageous.

[11:10:06]

MCLAUGHLIN: We said it was an act of domestic terrorism.

In no way is that outrageous. What we saw on the ground there, she had been stalking and harassing law enforcement throughout the morning, and then she went on to use her car as a deadly weapon. That's not... BLITZER: She was driving by after dropping off her little 6-year-old boy at school.

MCLAUGHLIN: She was not -- that's just simply not true.

I have the facts on the ground. I -- I mean, if you look at it, for the hours before...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: ... more information you can release to give the public a better understanding?

MCLAUGHLIN: If I can give you the facts of what happened that morning, at 9:30 a.m. Central time, this is where that incident occurred in Minneapolis.

This individual, for hours before, had been stalking and harassing law enforcement, impeding operations. At the time of that incident, our law enforcement approached this individual's vehicle as she was blocking in our law enforcement. That is a federal crime. They asked her to get out of the car, to stop obstructing law enforcement.

You saw from the video that her partner had been walking around harassing the law enforcement officer. Our officer was in front of her. She gunned the vehicle. And that's when things turned dangerous and deadly.

If you don't listen to lawful commands of federal law enforcement, if you use your vehicle as a weapon, that is absolutely an act of domestic terrorism.

BLITZER: I want to...

BROWN: Hold on. Really quick...

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: ... I mean, just mentioned he stepped in front of the vehicle. And there is no confirmation...

MCLAUGHLIN: He was in...

BROWN: I mean, there have been different analysis of this vehicle. And, of course, we would love more facts to fill in the picture.

But she's also turning the wheel. And he did step in front of the vehicle as part of this. Is that part of the training for ICE agents in an -- during an encounter with the vehicle?

MCLAUGHLIN: When you're trying to be -- when they're being blocked, when you're being impeded, when you're trying...

BROWN: But cars were going by.

MCLAUGHLIN: Cars were being -- you're not seeing the full video. There are cars behind this individual that could not get through. So,

again, we're talking about manipulative editing and only showing certain...

BROWN: Manipulative...

MCLAUGHLIN: We're only showing part of the vid -- Pamela, there's a very simple...

BROWN: We welcome any more evidence that you can release to the public.

MCLAUGHLIN: If I could say one thing, there is a very simple solution here.

Tim Walz and Mayor Frey should let us into their jails. Those 1,400 individuals, those criminal illegal aliens who have already had their due process, let us in those jails, let us take those murderers, those rapists, those child pedophiles out. That would simply solve the solution.

Work with state and local law enforcement. That is what we're asking. Down in Florida, there's been 40,000 arrests of criminal illegal aliens. We have seen peace. We have seen public safety. That's what we should be seeing across the nation.

BLITZER: Tricia, I want you to listen and watch what your boss, the secretary of homeland security, Tricia Noem -- excuse me...

MCLAUGHLIN: Secretary Noem.

BLITZER: Secretary Noem -- said yesterday alongside another video of a recent encounter in Minnesota. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The officers that we have out there are very highly trained and skilled specific for the operations that they're doing.

They're utilizing the most gifted individuals on these operations to go out and to do enforcement, because, many times, they're going after murderers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And we also saw that video of a woman being pulled out of her car, and she was trying to simply go to the doctor. Is that what...

MCLAUGHLIN: That is -- she was not going to the doctor.

BLITZER: Is what you're seeing there, are these -- the officers are trained to do? They cut off her seat belt. They dragged her out of the car and took her out. MCLAUGHLIN: This individual was actually arrested because she was time and time again impeding law enforcement officers, again, a small snippet of this video.

So she was an agitator intentionally, again, trying to impede federal law enforcement officers, which is a federal crime and is a felony.

BROWN: How do you know for certain? Do you know that she wasn't just caught up in the protests and the traffic and the chaos and was trying to get to -- how do you know that was her...

MCLAUGHLIN: Because she was doing this time and time again over and over and over again.

We talked to federal law enforcement on the ground. We talked to their supervisors in this case. We knew exactly what happened here. And she will be charged as such.

BROWN: OK, so let me just ask you, going back to the Renee Good, I'm just wondering...

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: ... what is the status of that ICE agent that was involved in the shooting? And can you give more -- any more clarity to his injuries?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, he's on leave right now. He's spending time with his family.

Obviously, this is a very difficult time for him and for his family. As we have confirmed before, he had internal bleeding, was sent to the hospital.

BROWN: Can you elaborate on that? Because doctors we have spoken to say, normally -- and I'm not trying to minimize. I don't know what the injury was.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BROWN: But they say, normally, if you have internal bleeding, you would stay longer than a day. He was released the same day. Was this bruising or can you give us any better indication of what the injury was?

MCLAUGHLIN: I haven't spoken to this individual's doctor. I just know he's on leave. He was pretty banged up, internal bleeding. And we pray for him and his family.

And this is -- any time there's a loss of life, it is a tragedy. In this case, it's an absolute tragedy. But, Pamela, what I think, again, is so important, especially as we see these rioters, you have to listen to lawful commands of federal law enforcement.

BROWN: And that is true. You... MCLAUGHLIN: If I can finish my point, you cannot obstruct or impede law enforcement. You cannot assault law enforcement, which we're seeing over and over again in the streets.

We're seeing them being spit on. These vehicle rammings are up 3200 percent. That is a deadly weapon being used against law enforcement officers. So there is a way to peacefully protest. That First Amendment, of course, is a precious right we have.

[11:15:08]

Unfortunately, on the ground, and in that case with Renee Good, that is not peaceful protest.

BROWN: So what is the ICE agents' training to handle protesters and protecting their First Amendment rights and their Fourth Amendment rights?

MCLAUGHLIN: Oh, absolutely.

BROWN: Do they have extensive training in crowd control? Because I know, just from me covering it over the years, their task is to go do immigration enforcement, not doing crowd control. So, perhaps, is this a situation that's different for them?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, absolutely. Conflict management, they're trained in, driving training, firearm training, de-escalation training.

They are absolutely trained on that. And as far as their training, I know I have seen a lot of coverage on here saying that they have lower standards. That's absolutely not true. The timeline was truncated, so that there's more intensive training down in our facility in Georgia.

But the reason, again, why we have sent more federal law enforcement officers is because, when we're seeing obstruction, when we're seeing assault rampant against our law enforcement officers, they still need to be able to carry out their lawful duties and do those enforcement operations.

So that's why we have federal law enforcement that's been surged there, so that they can continue to carry out those duties that's safe for the public, safe for the migrant themselves, and safe for our law enforcement officer.

BROWN: And, certainly, again, just to reiterate what Wolf said, no one should endorse assaults against officers...

MCLAUGHLIN: Of course.

BROWN: ... I mean, impeding valid investigations. And even the officials there in Minnesota have called for peaceful protest.

But before we let you go, I want to ask you about the recruitment. You talked about the training they get.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes. BROWN: There's an ICE recruiting poster, and it read -- quote -- "We will have our home again," that's gone viral.

That phrase aside is cited as having ties to white nationalist groups in the U.S. and Canada and a database of symbols maintained by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

I want to let you explain that. And, also, even if this is not intentional, do you denounce this if it's connected -- if this could be seen as a dog whistle to white supremacists?

MCLAUGHLIN: "We will have our home again" is now a white nationalist dog whistle? I mean, what are they even referring -- what is that a dog whistle to?

BROWN: Well, it's...

MCLAUGHLIN: I just -- by the way, I knew -- I had a feeling you would ask me about this.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Yes. We want to let you explain, because there's been reporting.

MCLAUGHLIN: There's plenty of poems. There's plenty...

BLITZER: It's gotten a lot of attention.

MCLAUGHLIN: There's plenty -- yes.

And, you know, there's no reason that we should be manufacturing outrage. There are plenty of...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: It's not manu...

MCLAUGHLIN: It is, actually.

There are plenty of policy disagreements we should be having, and I really believe we should be having. Manufacturing fake outrage is not that. There are plenty of poems, there are plenty of songs, there are plenty of books with the same title.

And the fact that they -- people would like to cherry-pick something of white nationalism to make some sort of connection to DHS law enforcement, well, it's no wonder we're seeing such vast, rampant assaults against our law enforcement.

It's no wonder Secretary Noem is facing so many threats against her life, I am, Tom Homan across the board is, because of garbage like this and people choosing to manufacture outrage. I think it's, quite frankly, embarrassing.

BROWN: Well, I wanted to give you the chance to respond. Again, this came from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

Thank you very much for coming on, Tricia McLaughlin. We appreciate your time to give DHS' side of the story.

MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: Thanks very much for coming in.

And, right now, the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Machado, is about to hold a press conference here in Washington after handing over her Nobel Peace Prize and leaving the White House with a Trump swag bag.

We're going to bring you her latest remarks. That's coming up.

And could U.S. military action in Greenland spell the end of President Trump's second term? Republican Congressman Don Bacon, Republican Congressman Don Bacon, says it could. He will join us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:22:58]

BLITZER: We have more breaking news we're following.

President Donald Trump says he's considering implementing tariffs on countries that oppose his plans to annex Greenland. His comments come as a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers are meeting with Danish and Greenland officials in Copenhagen as a show of support for the Arctic territory's sovereignty.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): We are grateful for your hospitality, for 225 years of being a good and trusted ally and partner. We had a strong and robust dialogue about how we extend that into the future. We expressed our gratitude for the sacrifice of Danes who served and fought and died alongside Americans when we were attacked 25 years ago.

We spoke about the value of NATO and the commitment to respecting the core principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and self- determination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New CNN polling just out released shows a strong majority of Americans do not.

Joining us now is Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

I want to start by getting your reaction to the president's latest comments. What do you think?

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Well, maybe the Supreme Court will rule this week or this coming week that tariffs are unconstitutional.

I personally believe they should originate from the House. It's the Congress or the legislature responsibility in Article I to raise revenues and determine tariffs, not the president. So, just on tariffs alone, I disagree with the statement.

But to threaten countries who oppose his strange talk on Greenland is also absurd. And I think a lot of this stuff about invading Greenland he says, I believe it's really being done for negotiating effect. But he says that almost every day, so I feel like people like me and others, we got to speak up and say it's wrong.

You don't threaten a NATO ally. They have been a great ally that we have had bases on there since World War II. Denmark has fought with us and on our side in Iraq and Afghanistan. So I feel like it's incumbent on folks like me to speak up and say that this -- these threats and bullying of an ally are wrong.

[11:25:14]

And just out of the weird chance that he's serious about invading Greenland, I want -- know that it would probably be the end of his presidency. Most Republicans know this is immoral and wrong, and we're going to stand up against it.

BLITZER: So what would happen if he decided to use military force to take over Greenland?

BACON: Well, I think, one way or the other way, whether it's even Republican control or if it's Democrat control after November, I think it would lead to impeachment.

I think it's -- invading an ally, to me, is a high crime and misdemeanor. And we have a treaty. We have the NATO agreement, and this would be basically severing this whole agreement. And invading an ally, a democracy, it's immoral. It's wrong.

BLITZER: Yes, Denmark is a founding member, one of the founding members of NATO, to be sure. And NATO has been the most important strategic alliance that the United States has had since World War II.

I want you to listen, Congressman, to what the Louisiana governor, who's now also a special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, said this morning. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEFF LANDRY (R-LA): The president is serious about reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine. This is something that should have happened 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, if we had been having this discussion, it would have been a bipartisan position. Nobody would be complaining. They would say that the president is doing a great job to secure our homeland. He's told Denmark what he's looking for, and now it's a matter of

having Secretary Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance make a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Trump administration, as you know, repeatedly argues that the United States needs Greenland for national security purposes. What's your response to that?

BACON: Well, we have a base there right now. It's a very important base.

We used to have roughly, I think, 14 bases at the height of our presence in Greenland. What we should be doing is sitting down with the Danish leadership and Greenland leadership and saying, what do we really need to have for security in the Arctic? Do we need to have more presence of U.S. Navy? Do we need to have an Air Force base?

But this is the discussion we should be having. Denmark would be very supportive of this. So would the citizens of Greenland. They would want to have more presence there. They would want to have more U.S. investment in mining.

So, to threaten Greenland, our ally, to achieve something that you could do in a friendly negotiation or a friendly handshake, it's really absurd. And the Monroe Doctrine is to keep out other countries in the Western Hemisphere. Greenland is in the Western-Northern Hemisphere and they're our ally.

And so it's really strange, absurd talk. And, by the way, 20 years ago, we would even be madder. Frankly, to think of Ronald Reagan would have had this discussion, it would have been impossible. Ronald Reagan honored and valued our alliances. And they knew Russia was the threat and not our alliances.

So this is not traditional Republican viewpoint, frankly, going back to World War II. And it's more like 1890s William McKinley kind of thinking, or it was sort of the mind-set we had in the 1930s before World War II.

We have learned from World War II and after with the Cold War that U.S. is the leader of the free world. We should be -- we should do it with humility, but also that we have to have close friends and alliances. This administration seems to forget those lessons learned. And it really comes out clear when we're talking about this Greenland issue.

BLITZER: Yes, Greenland, part of Denmark, a major NATO ally. Hard to believe what's going on right now.

Republican Congressman Don Bacon, thanks so much for joining us.

BACON: Thank you.

BROWN: Up next here in THE SITUATION ROOM: Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is facing arrest once again after a federal appeals court reversed the decision that freed him from jail. So what now?

Khalil's attorney joins us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)