CNN’s Josh Rogin tried to fact check President Donald Trump on Finland, but it turned out he needed a fact checker of his own.
“Trump told the Finnish President Just now he enjoyed spending time with him at the NATO summit. Finland is not part of NATO,” Rogin tweeted Monday.
Trump told the Finnish President Just now he enjoyed spending time with him at the NATO summit. Finland is not part of NATO. #awkward @jaketapper @camanpour
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 16, 2018
While Finland is not technically a part of NATO, it is part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace, “a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual Euro-Atlantic partner countries and NATO,” according to the organization. NATO Partnership for Peace members can take advantage of NATO benefits, such as civil emergency planning and disaster response, but have a contract between that specific country and NATO rather than being a part of the alliance overall. Even though Finland is not in NATO, the country is part of the larger NATO infrastructure of alliances.
Rogin acknowledged this in a later tweet and wrote that “Finland is a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace.”
Finland is a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace. But focusing on the strength of NATO is still an odd choice of things for Trump to focus on at his one public meeting with Finland’s head of state.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 16, 2018
Finland was also at the NATO summit in Brussels, according to a press release from the president’s office. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto attended a dinner for heads of state that Trump also attended on July 11. (RELATED: Fact Check: Have NATO Allies Increased Defense Spending By $34 Billion?)
Rogin also acknowledged this in a separate, later tweet:
The Finnish President did attend the NATO summit in Brussels: https://t.co/Zl0oqIsRsZ
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 16, 2018
CNN political analyst Julie Davis made a similar mistake, asking “Does [Trump] think Finland is in NATO?” on Twitter Monday.
Trump to Finnish Pres Sauli Niinistö, per pool: “I enjoyed being with you a couple of days ago. NATO has, I think, never been stronger. It was a little bit tough at the beginning, but it turned out to be love. I appreciated your support.” Does he think Finland is in NATO?
— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) July 16, 2018
Trump met Niinisto for breakfast ahead of his private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Monday.
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