Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday to discuss tariffs, efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and more.
Støre was accompanied by Norway's finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who served as Nato Secretary General during Trump's first term as president and who some see as a "Trump whisperer", capable of swaying the opinion of the volatile president.
The meeting, which had been requested by Norway earlier this month, continued for 90 minutes, much longer than scheduled, with Trump appearing in a jovial mood in press conferences both before and after the event.
"I love Norway. It's beautiful...and beautiful people," he gushed, joking that he would like to come and visit. "We'll all go together to Norway. I want to go skiing."
So what came of the meeting?
Reaffirming a strong Norway-US relationship
Both before and after, Trump stressed the closeness of the relationship between Norway and the US.
"Norway's always been an ally. They've been someone we've been very friendly with, very close to - maybe more so now with me than with other people," he said before the meeting.
Støre immediately followed up, stressing that the US was in fact Norway's "lead ally".
After the meeting, Trump expressed his appreciation for Stoltenberg, highlighting their cooperation between 2017 and 2021.
"He’s been a great general, frankly," he said, turning to the former Nato chief. "Because that’s what you are really — a general. But he’s a great Secretary General. We had a tremendous relationship, very successful."
After the meeting, Støre told a press conference that he had appreciated "the president's spirit and tone of the conversation".
Talk of trade and tariffs
Norway, because of its trade deficit in goods with the US, got off lightly when Trump announced his so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on April 2nd.
Norway was given tariffs of just 15 percent, compared to the 20 percent imposed on the EU. That advantage disappeared, temporarily at least, when Trump announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs a week later.
At the press conference before the meeting, Trump falsely claimed that Norway in fact had a trade surplus with the US.
"There's a surplus of a couple of billion dollars, I think you have," he said. "I congratulate you. It's very good. We're going to get a bit of that for ourselves."
Given this inauspicious starting point, the talks seemed to go well, with both sides saying progress had been made on this issue.
"I think the President and his team have been open to hearing our trade concerns," Støre said after the meeting. "We have also emphasised that we can benefit, both of us, by trading. We can be complementary and we can find good solutions."
Trump did, however, reiterate his determination to get some sort of additional concessions after the meeting, suggesting that the size of Norway's oil fund meant it could afford to pay more.
"I think the Prime Minister knows that over the years the United States has been very good to a lot of people, and it's time for us to benefit also," he said.
"They have a great fund, it's a big fund, and they have no debt, so I think they're probably willing to pay us more than that."
But he also said that the two countries "understand each other very well" on tariffs. "I think we'll have no problem. I think we'll have no problem whatsoever with Norway."
Stoltenberg later stressed that the fund's size was irrelevant to Norway's ability or willingness to pay tariffs.
"How rich or poor we are has no direct bearing on whether we can pay tariffs or not," he said.
Invitation to Norway
Støre confirmed an open invite to Trump to visit Norway.
"I told the President that he is receiving us early in the term. He's welcome to visit Norway," Støre said after the meeting. "We would like to have him."
Trump in response praised Norway's King Harald V, indicating that he might be looking forward to a royal welcome.
"I like the King," he said. "He's highly respected in Norway. Not an easy thing to do."
Talk of Russia and Ukraine
Trump was asked about his call on Russia's President Vladimir Putin to stop missile attacks on Ukraine earlier on Thursday, using perhaps his toughest language towards the Russian President since the talks began.
"I wasn’t happy with it," he said of the missile attack on Kyiv on Wednesday night. "We were in the process of talking peace and missiles were launched. I was not happy with it."
At the press conference after the meeting, Trump denied favouring Russia in the talks.
"Very simply, I have no allegiance to anybody," he said. "I have an allegiance to saving lives, mostly young people," he said. "I got started because the money that’s been spent on this war is insane. It should have never happened and it would have never happened if I were President. It's a killing field - 5,000 soldiers a week on average - and we want to stop that."
There was not much detail on the talks, however.
"What we agree on is that the war must end," Støre told Norway's public broadcaster NRK in an interview afterwards.
No conflict on Greenland
For the Norwegian delegation, the meeting will be seen as a success simply because nothing went badly wrong.
When a reporter asked Trump a question about his ambition that Greenland become part of the US - something Norway is deeply opposed to - Trump merely brushed the question aside by saying "we'll get to that later", avoiding a potential confrontation.
Støre sidesteps Nobel Peace Prize question
Støre in turn deftly handled a question from a reporter on whether Trump deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the war.
"I salute Donald Trump for taking very important initiatives to get this conflict to an end," he said.
He stressed, however, that the Nobel Peace Prize is not something that Norway's prime minister has any influence on, or is in any position to award.
"On that prize, there's a committee working on that which operates completely on its own terms, and I can't comment on that," he said.
Trump, however, responded gleefully. "Thank you for that question. I like that question," he said.
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