Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said in an interview published Sunday in the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper that he had “spoken briefly” with the American President about forest management on December 11 when they were in Paris for the Armistice Day events, according to the Associated Press.
On Saturday, while visiting what was Paradise in Butte County, California, Trump told reporters other countries do a better job of managing their forests that we do, specifically citing Finland.
“I was with the president of Finland and he said, ‘We have a much different — we’re a forest nation.’ He called it a forest nation, and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things,” Trump said. “And they don’t have any problem.”
#RakeAmericaGreatAgain: Twitter claps back at Trump's comments about forest management pic.twitter.com/lOyPb5sxSn
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 17, 2018
“And when it is, it’s a very small problem, so I know everybody is looking at it to that end and it’s going to work out, it’s going to work out well,” he continued, reports The Hill.
“I mentioned [to] him that Finland is a land covered by forests and we also have a good monitoring system and network,” Niinistö said, adding that he recalled telling Trump: “We take care of our forests.”
Needless to say, Trump’s comment on raking forests prompted a great deal of amusement on social media. One hashtag really stands out – #RakeAmericaGreatAgain. I believe people are going to have a lot of fun with this.
I say we trade in all our guns for rakes and form the new NRA. National Rake Association. Get with it! There’s forest floor rakin’ to be done! #RakeAmericaGreatAgain #RakeItHappen pic.twitter.com/1aMU7wkbTi
— NightShade (@NightShade31415) November 18, 2018
While touring the devastation in Northern California, Trump was asked by reporters if after seeing what the deadly fires had done, did it change his stance on climate change?
Trump replied: “No. No. I have a strong opinion: I want great climate. We’re going to have that, and we’re going to have forests that are very safe.”
Last week, Trump blamed the massive devastation from the wildfires on mismanagement of the forests by California officials. “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump wrote online. “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
RAGA
#RakeAmericaGreatAgain#haravointi
Here are some fine Trumpists preventing desert fires… pic.twitter.com/3gMeUk4lo5
— Bulk Logan (@wtfBulkLogan) November 18, 2018
It is enlightening to know that on Saturday, Trump also pledged to work with environmental groups to “take care of the floors, you know, the floors of the forest.”
“I think everybody’s seen the light, and I don’t think we’ll have this again to this extent. We’re going to have to work quickly,” Trump said. “But a lot of people are very much — there’s been a lot of study going on over the last little while, and I will say I think you’re going to have — hopefully this is going to be the last of these because this was a really, really bad one.”
Greetings from #Finland! Just taking a break from raking leaves and having a lunch. We have the best rakes in the world! #RakeAmericaGreatAgain #RakeTheForest #Trump #SundayFunday #SundayMorning #rakenews #CaliforniaWildFires #ClimateChange #haravointi #metsänhoito #CampFire pic.twitter.com/gsM8CbLdSi
— Kristiina Vahvaselkä (@TravelWithXtina) November 18, 2018
