Donald Trump’s wildest claims about foreign countries

The people of Finland have taken Donald Trump to task after the US president claimed the Nordic nation rarely has forest fires because its inhabitants “spend a lot of time raking and cleaning”.

Trump said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto had told him as much when they met briefly in Paris the previous weekend. But Niinisto has told Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that he never mentioned raking, just that he and his fellow Finns “take care of our forests”.

Trump’s comment prompted mirth on Twitter, with hashtags such as “#MakeAmericarakeagain” and “#rakenews”, and a flood of photos from Finns showing off their raking talents.

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This is by no means the first time that the US leader has made wild claims about other countries. Here are five more.

Islamic terror fuelling crime rise in UK

In October 2017, Trump blamed Islamic terrorists for an overall rise in crime in the UK. He tweeted: “Just out report: ‘United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror.’ Not good, we must keep America safe!” However, the UK Office for National Statistics said the 13% rise actually referred to just England and Wales and was largely down to improvements in crime recording. And while gun crime and knife crime did rise, the jumps were not driven by terror attacks.

Shithole African countries

In January, Trump voiced frustrations to lawmakers during a discussion about protection for immigrants trying to escape natural disasters or war in Haiti, El Salvador and some unnamed African countries. According to The Washington Post, the president asked: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Following reports about his alleged comments, Trump said that he had used “tough” language but denied employing the specific term quoted. But a senator who had been in the room insisted Trump had repeatedly said “things which were hate-filled, vile and racist”.

North Korea will soon be tremendous

Following a G7 summit in June, Trump announced: “We really think that North Korea will be a tremendous place in a very short period of time.” The president has been praised for attempting to denuclearise Pyongyang, but his optimism for the hermit kingdom - where millions live in poverty and hundreds of thousands are imprisoned in labour camps - raised more than a few eyebrows.

Mexico sending rapists into US

One of Trump’s most infamous claims, made on his campaign trail and subsequently repeated, was that Mexico was sending “rapists” to the US. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” he said in his 2015 speech announcing that he was running for president.

Belgium is ‘a beautiful city’ but Brussels is a ‘hellhole’

In 2016, Trump claimed that living in Brussels was like being in a “hellhole”, because the Muslim population had not assimilated with the community, reports Politico. Just a few months later he appeared to change his tune, but got his geography a bit confused. Speaking at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, the president declared that the country of Belgium was “a beautiful city”.