Donald Trump has thanked Finland for his help in Afghanistan, but even stranger comments about Finland have come out of his mouth.
Linda Pelkonen,
Annika Martikainen
In the arena of world politics, Finland is a minor factor alongside the United States, but it is again rising to the presidency Donald Trump has taken Finland into account over the years.
Trump and Putin’s historic meeting in Helsinki
Finland’s relations with Trump peaked in 2018, when Helsinki hosted the Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Trump summit.
See the atmosphere of the meeting in the video below.
In addition, the president Sauli Niinistö was invited to Washington several times.
Finland’s work in Afghanistan
In 2017, when the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö visited the White House at Trump’s invitation, Trump separately noted Finland’s support for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan.
– Mr. President, the American people are grateful for your reliable support in the war against terrorism, Trump said.
According to the report of the Foreign Policy Institute published in 2022, Finland’s real reason for the operation in Afghanistan was to maintain relations with the military alliance NATO and the United States.
Visiting Rauma in the 90s
Trump spent almost a day in Finland, in Rauma, in 1992. The purpose was to make deals on cruise ships. Rauma-Repola’s branch manager hosted the visit Pekka Laxell recalls the time spent with Trump For Helsingin Sanomat.
– To our surprise, Trump wanted to go dancing in Rauma after dinner. We took him to Raumanlinna. I asked at the door of the restaurant if anyone had any money. Trump said at least he doesn’t have one, Laxell recalls.
However, cruise lines did not emerge with Trump.
“Is Finland part of Russia?”
Over the years, Trump has also made more unusual comments about Finland.
It has been unclear to Trump whether Finland is an independent state or not. Trump’s former security adviser John Bolton wrote a disclosure book in 2020. Trump is said to have inquired whether Finland is part of Russia.
Finland also came to the fore in 2018, when wildfires claimed lives raged in Northern California. President Trump, who visited the place, urged the locals to follow the example of Finnish forest management.
– In other countries, things are handled differently, he said and took Finland as an example.
– They rake and clean and they don’t have any problems, Trump said.
The background of the reference to Finland may be that President Sauli Niinistö and Trump had met a little earlier and one of the topics of the discussions had been forest fires. Niinistö had said that the fight against them in Finland is on a good model.