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Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said that he had never discussed the subject with President Donald Trump during their brief meeting in Paris last weekend. | Puce Somodevilla / Getty Images
Finland's leader denied Sunday that he had ever told President Donald Trump that the small Nordic country was counting on "sweeping" its forests to prevent forest fires – even though Trump had promoted the dubious conservation method during the first day of the war. a visit to California ravaged by the flames. weekend.
"You look at other countries where they do it differently, and it's a completely different story," Trump said Saturday, alongside Governor Jerry Brown and California's Governor-elect Gavin Newsom among the charred ruins of the Skyway Villa Mobile Home Campground in the city of Paradise.
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"I was with the President of Finland, and he said:" We have a very different country: we are a forest nation. "He called it a forest nation," Trump said. "And they spent a lot of time raking, cleaning and doing things, and they have no problem. And when that's the case, it's a very small problem. I know everyone is interested in that. And it will work, it will work well. "
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said Sunday at Ilta-Sanomat, the country's second-largest newspaper, that he had never discussed raking with Trump during their brief meeting in Paris last weekend, where the leaders attended various commemorations marking the centenary of the armistice. First World War.
"I mentioned [to] him that Finland is a land covered with forests and that we also have a good monitoring system and a good network, "said Niinistö, adding that he remembered telling Trump:" We take care of our forests . "
The camp fire in northern California, the deadliest and most devastating in state history, left at least 76 dead and nearly 1,300 missing. The fire, controlled to 55%, destroyed nearly 10,000 homes and burned 233 square miles, according to the Associated Press.
In California, the president was reluctant to attribute to a series of increasingly devastating forest fires the consequences of rising temperatures worldwide. Asked by reporters whether his visit to the fire zone had changed his views on climate change, Trump replied, "No. No, I have a strong opinion: I want a good climate. We will have this and we will have very safe forests. "
Instead, the president attributed natural disasters largely to the mismanagement of forest lands by Californian leaders. Last week, he was widely criticized by local authorities for a tweet in which he threatened to suspend federal funding from the state.
"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and expensive forest fires in California, if it's that the management of the forest is so bad," Trump wrote online. "Billions of dollars are given every year, with so many lives lost, all because of poor forest management. Remedy now, or more payments from the Fed!
On Saturday, the President continued to emphasize the importance of working with environmental groups to improve forest maintenance, and is committed to "taking care of the soil, you know, soils of the forest ".
"I think everyone has seen the light, and I do not think we'll have it again to that extent. We will have to work quickly, "said Trump. "But a lot of people are very many – there have been a lot of studies going on lately, and I will say that I think you are going to have – I hope it will be the last one. between them because it was a very, really bad one. "
