Finnish President Sauli Niinisto reportedly said Sunday that he briefed President Trump on forest management earlier this month while the two discussed wildfires in California.
Niinisto told the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper, however, that he isn’t sure where Trump got the idea that “raking” is part of Finland’s forest management routine, according to The Associated Press.
{mosads}While visiting California on Saturday to view the recovery efforts in the midst of wildfires in the state, Trump said other countries do a better job managing their forests and pointed specifically to 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.”
“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.
But Niinisto told the Ilta-Sanomat that “raking” never came up when he and Trump spoke briefly on Nov. 11, when they were both in Paris for Armistice Day, the AP reported. Niinisto did recall telling Trump that “we take care of our forests,” according to the AP.