Donald Trump has declared that Norway has turned into a "shithouse country" and that the US will not accept immigrants from there. He made the remarks during a campaign speech in Port Huron, Michigan, when addressing the topic of immigration and the unrest taking place in France.
"I'm not a fan of Norway. Frankly, Norway is terrible. Norway has turned into a dump of a republic," Trump said, while noting that the US would happily accept immigrants from some countries, but not from Norway.
Reuters notes that Trump has previously used the phrase "shithouse country" when speaking about Haiti, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
According to Trump, the US is cooperating with Denmark, which he described as a "good, nice country." "Denmark — we'll take them. Sweden, Norway… I don't think so. Because I didn't get the Nobel Prize, even though I ended it. So I don't want anyone from Norway," the US president stated.
Trump's statement is unlikely to remain merely an episode of campaign rhetoric. He directly links immigration policy to the Nobel Prize, which shows how personal his relations with the Scandinavian countries have become.
It is noteworthy that Denmark is in the same region, yet Trump singles it out as a "good, nice country." This suggests that the issue is not regional policy but personal attitude.
How Norway will react is not yet known. However, such statements usually do not go unanswered in diplomatic circles.
