Here's what really happened when Donald met Sauli
So Finnish president Sauli Niinistö got invited to the White House to meet with Donald Trump.
The press and political analysts were giddy. After all, an invitation to the White House is a big deal and this meeting was seen as a great chance for little Finland to highlight big issues like security in the Baltics, the role of the EU as a partner in the global economy and the importance of implementing the Paris Agreement. Plus, surely Trump would be eager to gain insight into Finland’s diplomatic strategy when it comes to dealing with Vladimir Putin and Russia.
So president Sauli Niinistö prepared his agenda, packed a nice suit, got on a plane and flew to D.C.
Shockingly, it turns out Donald Trump didn’t actually give a shit about any of the things on Niinistö’s agenda and in fact hadn’t even bothered to learn his name, referring to him instead as the newest Pokémon , “president Ninuchu”.
Trump quickly tried to make up for his mistake by offering Niinistö a gift, but once again the language barrier between the two presidents got in the way.
During the question-and-answer session they held after their meeting, Trump spotted two blond Finnish reporters in the audience. He looked at Niinistö and said:
“Do you want to take one more? Go ahead. Pick.”
THIS. The Finnish journalists @potus had trouble telling apart. They are def. 2 diff. people. So glad I met @maria_annala + @vilenpaula. pic.twitter.com/gthZWwiiJa
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) August 28, 2017
While president Niinistö is way more experienced in politics and diplomacy, he obviously knows nothing about sexual harassment. He missed his chance and stuck to taking questions. Amateur!
There was one more tiny misunderstanding when Trump gushed over Finland’s imminent purchase of a bunch of US-made Hornets.
“One of the things that is happening is you’re purchasing large amounts of our great F-18 aircraft from Boeing and it’s one of the great planes, the great fighter jets,” he said.
Niinistö looked confused but let it slide, later saying that “It’s easy to mix up the past and the future.” I mean yeah, if you’re Marty McFly in Back to the Future III maybe.
The point is this. Pretending that Donald Trump is a legitimate head of state with a legitimate agenda is like letting the most wasted person at a party drive everyone home. It’s delusional, reckless and dangerous.
When it comes to Trump, if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem.
That means that now more than ever it’s up to world leaders like Sauli Niinistö to stay in reality and not participate in Donald Trump’s reality show.
He should never have gone.