WATCH: Trump joins White House press briefing after latest Greenland and tariff threats

Politics

President Donald Trump appeared at Tuesday's White House press briefing to mark the first anniversary of the start of his second term.

Watch the briefing in the video player above.

The rare appearance came as the president faces extraordinary pushback from America's European allies over his planned tariffs over Greenland, tensions he'll confront in person this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Trump's planned new tariffs over Greenland as "a mistake especially between long-standing allies" and called into question Trump's trustworthiness, saying that he had agreed last year not to impose more tariffs on members of the bloc.

WATCH: Europe stands firm against Trump's push for Greenland as he threatens new tariffs

Trump announced that starting February, a 10% import tax will be imposed on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.

Trump says it would take more than 'a week' to list off his accomplishments

Entering the briefing room with a thick stack of papers, Trump said that he had in his first year back in the White House had "done more than any other administration has done by far."

"It's been an amazing period of time," Trump said, thumbing through the pages.

Trump addressed reporters alone at the podium, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt standing off to his right. He quickly launched into holding up photographs of people arrested in Minnesota, with each saying "Minnesota worst of the worst."

Trump calls Minnesota protesters 'paid agitators'

As he continued to show mugshots of those he described as "rough" people arrested during federal agents immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, Trump also linked the fraud allegations in the state to its Somali community, which he has also done in the past.

"I'm going through this because I think we have plenty of time," Trump said, alternating between discussing Minnesota and other issues, including his impending trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Trump's administration has urged a judge to reject efforts by Minnesota and its largest cities to stop the surge, calling the lawsuit — filed soon after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an immigration officer — "legally frivolous."

Trump says he doesn't 'know what the Supreme Court' will do on tariffs

The president gave a somewhat meandering defense of his declaration of an economic emergency to impose tariffs, saying the law is clear to him but he doesn't know how the Supreme Court will rule in a pending case challenging the legality.

Trump said that the government can restrict trade by requiring licenses and that tariffs could be less severe. But Trump stressed, "I don't know what the Supreme Court's going to do."

"If we lose that case, it's possible we're going to have to do the best we can in paying it back," Trump said. "I don't know how that's going to be done very easily without hurting a lot of people."

The president used emergency tariffs to negotiate trade frameworks and on Saturday threatened tariffs on eight European nations in hopes of forcing those countries to back U.S. ownership of Greenland.

Trump grumbles anew about Norway and not winning Nobel Prize

"It's a joke," Trump fumed about the prize to reporters. "They've lost such prestige."

Trump in a message to European officials made public this week linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year's decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway's prime minister that he no longer felt "an obligation to think purely of Peace."

READ MORE: Norwegian leader says he received Trump message that reportedly ties Greenland to not receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Trump also waved aside comments from Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who issued a statement on Monday noting that the Norwegian government holds no sway over who is receives the Peace Prize.

"And don't let anyone tell you that Norway doesn't control the shots. OK?" Trump said. "It's in Norway."

Trump relates childhood story of conversation with his mother

Trump often tells the same stories many times over, but on Tuesday he added a new one, as he talked about signing an executive order to bring back mental institutions and insane asylums.

Amid listing off what he sees are his top accomplishments over the past year, Trump waxed nostalgic as he told a story of walking to Little League practice with his mother, reminding reporters he was "quite the baseball player."

Querying his mother on bars over windows on a psychiatric hospital in Queens, which he said "loomed over the block," Trump says she told him that "very sick" people lived there.

Creedmor Psychiatric Center is still operational but the property has fulfilled various roles through the decades.

A migrant shelter was operational there until last year, and in November, New York officials approved a development plan to include residences.

Trump blasts UN as he touts his Board of Peace

"I wish we didn't need a Board of Peace," Trump said. "You know, with all the wars I settled, the United Nations never helped me on one war."

Trump's Board of Peace was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. But the Trump administration's ambitions have ballooned into a more sprawling concept, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting it will soon broker global conflicts, like a pseudo-U.N. Security Council.

Trump says he gets along 'very well' with France, UK leaders

Trump said he likes French President Emmanuel Macron and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, even as both have had some negative feedback for him lately over his ratcheting up of aggression toward Greenland.

Asked about his relationship with the foreign leaders, Trump said they "get a little bit rough" when he's not around but "when I'm around they treat me very nicely."

While he called Macron "a friend of mine," he also said both left-leaning leaders have "got to straighten out their countries."

Trump says UN should continue, though his Board of Peace 'might' replace it

"It might," Trump said when asked about a reporter his envisioned Board of Peace should replace the United Nations. "The U.N. just hasn't been very helpful. I'm a big fan of the potential, but it has never lived up to its potential."

But Trump added, "I believe you got to let the U.N. continue, because the potential is so great."

Trump doubles down on opposing UK leasing military base in Indian Ocean

Trump repeated his criticism of plans by Britain to lease a military base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago.

He said that he favored Britain ownership of the island, saying it's in a "reasonably important area of the globe" though not in as critical a spot as Greenland.

"I think they should keep it," Trump said of British ownership of the base, suggesting that maybe the United Kingdom needed the money.

Trump says Davos speech will recap his success in office

The president will use a key address in Davos on Wednesday to highlight his administration's accomplishments, he told reporters.

"I think more than anything else, what I'm going to be speaking about is the tremendous success that we've had in one year," he said. "I didn't think we could do it this fast."

The White House had previously said the remarks, in a room likely to be occupied with global elites and billionaires, would focus on Trump's affordability agenda, particularly on housing.

Trump said he thought other countries needed to hear advice from him on energy and immigration.

Trump says he won't attend emergency meeting on Greenland

Macron this week called for an emergency meeting in Paris with European leaders to address tensions with the U.S. over the Trump's pursuit to acquire Greenland as well as tariffs.

Trump told reporters that he would not attend the meeting, in part because Macron would not be leading his country for much longer.

Earlier this week Trump shared private texts from Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on social media.

Trump takes a more even tone on Greenland, a day after bombast

"I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we're going to be very happy," Trump responded, when asked near the end of his press conference about whether splintering was worth his pursuit of the Arctic territory that belongs to Denmark.

That was a notable shift from the text message from Trump to Norwegian prime minister on Monday that he no longer felt "an obligation to think purely of peace."

Trump repeated his position that the U.S. needs to take control of the territory for the sake of U.S. national security.

Trump avoids question about previously stated plans to retake Panama Canal

Trump in his inaugural address last year and during the transition spoke of retaking the Panama Canal.

But Trump in recent months has been relatively quiet about the issue after claiming that China was "operating the Panama Canal" and "we're taking back."

Trump's complaint is that the United States, the shipping lane's biggest user, was "being severely overcharged and not treated fairly."

Asked if the U.S. reclaiming the canal was still on the table, Trump demurred.

"I don't want to tell you that," the president responded.

Trump says God would be 'very proud' of him

Trump's at-times rambling briefing included a split second of religious reflection.

A reporter asked Trump if he believed God was proud of him, after the president had last year said he believed he got into office because God put him there to save the world.

"I think God is very proud of the job I've done, and that includes for religion," Trump replied. "We're protecting a lot of people that are being killed. Christians, Jewish people, lots of people are being protected by me that wouldn't be protected by another type of president."

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WATCH: Trump joins White House press briefing after latest Greenland and tariff threats first appeared on the PBS News website.

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