Icebreakers and golf forge an unlikely friendship between Trump and the Finnish leader

There was no need for small talk to break the ice between these two leaders who had become unlikely friends.

Instead, it was real icebreakers – massive 9,000-ton ships – that sealed the deal between Donald Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, cementing their growing business and personal relationship.

Trump was smiling at their Oval Office meeting on Thursday, bowing slightly and nodding approvingly at the man who has become, for many, an unlikely spokesman for Europe.

Alexander Staub of Finland is a leader who has the ears of the President of the United States more than any other, despite his country’s relatively small size.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Trump said as they sat facing each other under a painting of a young George Washington.

Over the next hour, the two men discussed a wide range of issues, but primarily the purchase of 11 icebreaker ships.

This is one of Finland’s hard-to-build maritime specialties, which the country uses to break through ports frozen in the harsh Scandinavian winters, and which Trump has long been putting in place.

Four of them will be built in the United States using Finnish know-how, which Stubb promised “means investments, means jobs, and means hope” — something a grateful Trump said was necessary given Finland’s proximity to Russia and what he called the “ridiculous” war in Ukraine.

More than any other aspect of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Finland, the Ukraine war has thrust the relationship between Stapp and Trump into international headlines.

Among many war watchers, Stapp is seen as one of the NATO leaders perhaps best able to convince Trump of Europe’s stance toward Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.

“I see Finland’s huge influence in Washington as a direct result of the close personal relationship between Stapp and Trump,” said Jason Muir, a transatlantic relations expert at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.

“Finland’s Staab pragmatism, its knowledge of Russia, its ongoing support for Ukraine, and the fact that it possesses specialized technological know-how in its icebreaker ecosystem give Finland a larger than expected, and certainly deserved, role in the transatlantic relationship.” He added.

At first glance, the two men couldn’t seem more different.

While Trump formally became involved in politics late in life after a long career in real estate, his younger Finnish counterpart began his career through more academic endeavors.

He was a researcher at the Finnish Representative Office to the European Union, before working his way up through various positions until he became a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and, last year, President of his country.

Stubb’s role as what some media outlets described as “Trump’s whisperer” has not gone unnoticed in other European capitals.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked him in July for “helping build a relationship” with Trump as the war in Ukraine continues.

At the White House the following month, Stapp sat next to Zelensky — and directly across the table from Trump — at a summit that included the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the European Commission and the European Union.

“Finland is a country with a population of 5.5 million,” Muir said. “It shows how much Trump cares (about Finland) and shows how influential the Finns are.”

The two men have a warm relationship, texting or calling each other frequently — sometimes weekly, according to two sources familiar with the conversations.

According to Staub, one of these calls took place the night before the Oval Office meeting on Thursday.

“The White House has learned that if the phone is on do not disturb mode, if you ring three times, it lets you through,” Staub told reporters.

It was Trump on the phone who told him he wanted new icebreakers.

While these conversations are often focused on politics, sometimes they are just friendly conversations about a shared passion – golf.

It is Trump’s favorite pastime and a sport in which Stubb once represented Finland as a member of its national team.

“Golf is really important,” said Brent Nielsen, a former Stubb professor at Furman University in Georgia, where the Finnish president studied on a golf scholarship in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “He’s a really good golfer.”

The importance of Staub’s shared interests with Trump was highlighted in March, when Staub made a surprise appearance at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to play with the US president, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, and famous South African golfer Gary Player.

Immediately, Trump was impressed by Finn’s abilities.

On Social Fact, Trump wrote that he was a “very good player” and that the two won the Members and Guest tournament together.

“Trump loved it,” said Nelson, who has kept in close contact with his former student and current friend, with whom he wrote a textbook on the European Union. “Alex (Stapp) said he had a really good tour.”

“Trump always admires superior talent. Someone who has some talent that makes him really stand out.”

Over 18 holes on the sunny golf course, the two men talked about a wide range of topics, from icebreakers to Ukraine. Staub later recalled that this time together allowed the two men to feel for each other.

“You learn about a person’s character from the first hole on the golf course,” he told Bloomberg. “You can tell if they’re excited, impatient, having fun, or relaxed. I have to say, I didn’t have any uncomfortable moments during that tour.”

Over lunch, Trump asked the Finn if he could trust Putin, a man with whom Trump has repeatedly claimed to have a “great relationship.”

“You can’t,” Stapp told Bloomberg.

Within hours, Trump told NBC he was “angry” and “very angry” at Putin — his harshest and most vocal criticism of the Russian leader at this point in Trump’s second term.

Mr. Nielsen said the conversation clearly convinced the president.

“Alex spent seven hours with him in that golf cart,” he said. “That had some impact on what Trump was thinking.”

Trump’s latest Oval Office meeting with Staub came just one day after Trump announced a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

Trump said at the meeting: “No one in history has been able to solve eight wars in a period of nine months, and I have stopped eight wars.”

“I did it because I saved a lot of lives, and that’s the thing that bothers me so much about Russia and Ukraine.”

Staub sat silently as he spoke, and after only a few minutes, reporters were escorted from the room.

But behind closed doors and away from cameras, Stapp said he and Trump discussed the war again, and Finn relayed messages from Zelensky, though he did not provide any details.

It seems that a more detailed conversation about Ukraine will have to wait.

There is no golf on this trip.