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Make America Rake Again: Finland baffled by Trump's forest fire raking claim
Mon 19 Nov 2018 07.07 EST
Last modified on Mon 19 Nov 2018 11.15 EST
The people of Finland have reacted with bemusement on social media at Donald Trump’s assertions that the country rakes its forests to help prevent forest fires. Speaking on Saturday in Paradise, California, about the role of forest management in stemming wildfires, Trump said: “I was with the president of Finland and he said: ‘We have, much different, we are a forest nation.’ He called it a forest nation. And they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem.”
Finnish social media users immediately posted a range of jokes about Trump’s comments, which do not reflect the reality of how forests are managed in the country.
There were also people on hand to point out that the factors affecting whether there are forest fires are very different in California and Finland:
For his part, Sauli Niinistö appears to recall the conversation somewhat differently. He said although he told Trump that the Finns took care of their forests, he did not specifically recall mentioning raking as part of the planning.
Mon 19 Nov 2018 07.07 EST
Last modified on Mon 19 Nov 2018 11.15 EST
The people of Finland have reacted with bemusement on social media at Donald Trump’s assertions that the country rakes its forests to help prevent forest fires. Speaking on Saturday in Paradise, California, about the role of forest management in stemming wildfires, Trump said: “I was with the president of Finland and he said: ‘We have, much different, we are a forest nation.’ He called it a forest nation. And they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem.”
Finnish social media users immediately posted a range of jokes about Trump’s comments, which do not reflect the reality of how forests are managed in the country.
Link to tweet
There were also people on hand to point out that the factors affecting whether there are forest fires are very different in California and Finland:
Link to tweet
For his part, Sauli Niinistö appears to recall the conversation somewhat differently. He said although he told Trump that the Finns took care of their forests, he did not specifically recall mentioning raking as part of the planning.
XITTER
Arto Aspfors
@aspfors
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Not on my watch!
#Rakenews
5:32 AM · Nov 18, 2018[/excerpt
@aspfors
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Not on my watch!
#Rakenews
5:32 AM · Nov 18, 2018[/excerpt
Jennifer Jacobs
·
Nov 17, 2018
@JenniferJJacobs
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Replying to @JenniferJJacobs
“We’ve got to take care of the floors. The floors of the forest,” Trump said in Paradise, CA.
Other countries do it differently—president of Finland said they spend a lot of time “on raking and cleaning. They don’t have any problem and when it is, it’s a very small problem.”
nonamenocountry
@mallahadley
·
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I grew up in Finland. a) it rains all year round. b) we have a lengthy and cold winter. c) Finland is a sparsely populated country with just over 5mil ppl, with land size ~3/4 of CA and most of it forests and lakes. d) no friggin body is raking the forests.
3:41 PM · Nov 17, 2018
·
Nov 17, 2018
@JenniferJJacobs
·
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Replying to @JenniferJJacobs
“We’ve got to take care of the floors. The floors of the forest,” Trump said in Paradise, CA.
Other countries do it differently—president of Finland said they spend a lot of time “on raking and cleaning. They don’t have any problem and when it is, it’s a very small problem.”
nonamenocountry
@mallahadley
·
Follow
I grew up in Finland. a) it rains all year round. b) we have a lengthy and cold winter. c) Finland is a sparsely populated country with just over 5mil ppl, with land size ~3/4 of CA and most of it forests and lakes. d) no friggin body is raking the forests.
3:41 PM · Nov 17, 2018
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