US President Donald Trump has again praised Finnish forestry management in connection with California wildfires.
During his first presidential term, in November 2018, while surveying damage from wildfires in California, he sang the praises of Finnish forestry management, culminating in a brief Finnish moment of global internet glory.
Trump was speaking to Fox News on Wednesday about California's wildfires when he recalled facing criticism when he previously discussed forestry management as part of wildfire control. He cited Finland and Austria as examples of forested countries that do not face the same wildfire issues as California.
"They said, 'We live in a forest. We are a forest nation.' That’s beautiful," he told Sean Hannity.
This was, however, not the first time Trump has mentioned Finland since taking office.
In one video, a reporter asks the newly inaugurated president if he is interested in other options than purchasing Greenland regarding his talk about taking over the country.
Trump apparently mishears the reporter's question and responds by asking:
"Finland?"
Trump did in fact take an official trip to Finland more than six years ago.
He visited Helsinki in the summer of 2018 for face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a meeting hosted by then-Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. At that summit, Trump and Putin presented a united front on the question of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and tamped down talk of collusion.