Nordic PMs troll Trump while declaring regional cooperation agenda

PMs of Nordic nations vow to work on meeting several Sustainable Development Goals

It seems Europe is having none of US President Donald Trump’s anti-globalisation rhetoric. The prime ministers of several Nordic countries have announced a joint initiative to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 while simultaneously trolling Trump.

The initiative titled Nordic Solutions to Global Challenges was officially launched during a two-day summit at Bergen, Norway, according to a press release on the website of the Nordic Council.

The two-year Nordic partnership features six “flagship projects” on which the countries will collaborate to ensure the region meets several of the 17 SDGs.



These projects include planning and building sustainable cities, cooperating on producing and promoting clean energy, investing in gender equality, sustainable food production, citizen welfare and solutions to combat climate change, a scientific reality the existence of which Trump – the president of one of the world’s biggest polluters – has denied. The US president also recently hinted at backing out of the historic 2015 Paris agreement, statements which European leaders have been critical of.

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012

“One of the basic ideas is to use the [Nordic] region as an example of the fact that sustainable development does not need to get in the way of economic growth,” the press release states.

The countries have already initiated dialogue with major international players such as the UN, World Economic Forum and International Labour Organization to implement its agenda.



The Nordic Council also released a picture of the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland holding a football – an apparent dig at Trump who was pictured with Saudi King Salman and other leaders in Saudi Arabia holding a glowing globe last week at the opening of a centre to combat terrorism.

Five Nordic prime ministers - one vision to reach the #SDGs before the year 2030. https://t.co/SOm5AFaA3F #TheNordics #NordicSolutions pic.twitter.com/r8BtP85oIG

— Nordic Co-operation (@nordenen) May 30, 2017

Considering that trolls originated in Norse mythology, it is only fitting that Scandinavians have been doing some of the best work at trolling the gaffe-prone US president, starting with his reference to a non-existent terror attack in Sweden earlier this year.



The dig also didn't unnoticed on Twitter, and a picture of the football-holding PMs went viral just like Trump's glowing orb did.

Brutal... the Nordic prime ministers' recreating Trump's orb photo. Or they like soccer. I don't know, but the mocking angle plays better. pic.twitter.com/MwL0e7v1Qq

— The Darkest Timeline Numbersmuncher (@NumbersMuncher) May 30, 2017

nordic prime minister meeting. the orb of world domination loses power and is somewhat less threatening on these latitudes. pic.twitter.com/t5K7NfQOqu

— Jussi Karlgren 🌐 (@jussikarlgren) May 29, 2017

Trump is a global embarrassment: Nordic prime ministers' (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland) are openly mocking his orb photo. pic.twitter.com/4KVmrfvL2L

— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 30, 2017

The Nordic leaders are really good at recreating scenes to mock Trump. pic.twitter.com/qjjEESNshg

— The Darkest Timeline Numbersmuncher (@NumbersMuncher) May 30, 2017

On her Facebook page, Norway's Solberg made the comparison explicit. "Who rules the world? Riyadh vs Bergen," Solberg wrote under the Trump photo and the photo of her and her fellow Nordic leaders.

"Don't know what those in the upper photo were thinking," she wrote. "In the lower one are the five Nordic prime ministers, holding a ball with the sustainability goals. We're hoping they'll be a roadmap for the future."