Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 | 9:25 a.m.
HELSINKI — Finnish media on Thursday praised their president’s performance at a Washington news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump as "ice-cold strong" amid heated questions about an impeachment inquiry.
The White House news conference on Wednesday left Finnish President Sauli Niinisto standing calmly by while Trump answered questions about his controversial phone call with Ukraine’s leader. “Ask him a question,” Trump irritably told a reporter, pointing to his counterpart.
The Finnish leader wisely did not interfere with U.S. domestic politics and "Trump's nightmare," as local tabloid Iltalehti put it.
But some in Finland wondered whether Niinisto’s comment that “Mr. President, you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on” was a commentary on the U.S. political climate. Niinisto later denied it, saying he was only referring to past U.S. history.
Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, said Niinisto’s “poker face held well.”
To some U.S. observers, Niinisto looked uncomfortable at times. Yet the Finnish leader later described the news conference to media outlets as "very pleasant."
After seeing footage of the news conference, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted that he felt bad for the Finnish leader and said "Today, we are all Sauli Niinisto."
