Finns have taken President Donald Trump to task over his wild assertion that their “forest nation” avoids deadly blazes by spending “a lot of time on raking and cleaning.”
“You’ve got to take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important,” Trump said Saturday during a tour of the destruction left in the wake of the Camp fire.
The president then recounted an alleged conversation with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in which he was told about the benefits of raking.
“And they don’t have a problem,” Trump said. “And when they do, it’s a very small problem.”
On Sunday, Niinistö said that he doesn’t recall raking ever coming up during his brief interaction with Trump earlier this month.
While critics at home have pointed out the many extreme differences between the climates of California and Finland (a quarter of which lies within the Arctic Circle), the Finns have hilariously responded to Trump’s suggestion on social media.
We don't rake our forests in Finland. As we have free education up to university level, we are smarter than that. We try to achieve the goals set in the Paris Agreement.
— sari myllykoski (@Sari_Myllykoski) November 18, 2018
The President of Finland ready to take another generation of Finns to rake and clean the forest floors to prevent forest fires. pic.twitter.com/8fAyVoJ2Qx
— Antti Holma (@anttiholma) November 17, 2018
Make America Rake Again. #MARA @realDonaldTrump #Finland pic.twitter.com/rpabRtT5yo
— Stephen Sutton (@Stippidoo) November 18, 2018
We indeed have the best rakes in the world. They are really great. No other country has as good rakes as we do. We rake Finland great again.
— Teemu Hiilinen (@hiilinen) November 18, 2018
#Finland is no. 1 in #WorldHappinessReport by @UN. Wonder why...? #HappiestCountry #Happiness #raking #RakingHappiness #rake #harava #haravointi #Trump #RakeNews #RakeAmericaGreatAgain #RakingAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/TIHQj4qYpH
— Hanna Backända (@HannaBackanda) November 18, 2018
In central Helsinki, an illuminated sign reminds us of our duty to rake. #rakenews #finland #californiafires pic.twitter.com/XlYemqJEhN
— Aapo Rautiainen (@aaporau) November 18, 2018
Pretty much, here’s a video of my son beginning to practise at 22 months old, helping my grandma out picking up the leaves!
— Jasmin🍂 (@jjjasuliii) November 18, 2018
Small hands, very great. The rake was a bit too big for him. Next year, he’ll be a GREAT at raking. pic.twitter.com/KkcuIWFB7t
The official #RAKE college in downtown Helsinki, where all Finns do a three-year mandatory service raking our country (size of California) great again. And again. And again. #rakenews https://t.co/jzbSYQH5i6
— Pekka Pekkala (@PekkaPekkala) November 18, 2018
Every Finnish home has got a print of this cautionary painting called ”Raking And Cleaning Fail”. pic.twitter.com/J16xkVU4t2
— Antti Holma (@anttiholma) November 17, 2018
Just an ordinary day in the Finnish forest ~ Ihan normipäivä suomalaisessa metsässä #Trump #forest #firesafety #raking #forestry #Finland #Finnish #CaliforniaFire #RakingAmericaGreatAgain #rakingtheforest #Suomi #haravointi #metsäpalot #rakingleaves pic.twitter.com/YOKA3D6C2K
— Pyry Luminen (@pyryluminen) November 18, 2018
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