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Nordic leaders photo not meant to troll Trump, official says

Official: Photo not meant to troll Trump
Official: Photo not meant to troll Trump
Posted at 3:59 AM, May 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-31 07:00:38-04

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Norwegian official say five Nordic prime ministers who posed for a photo clutching a soccer ball weren't intending to make fun of a viral image from U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia.

Norwegian government official Sigbjoern Aanes says the photo taken Monday at a meeting of regional government heads in Norway was meant to promote U.N. sustainability goals, which were written on the soccer ball.

He says Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg only later realized that the photo was reminiscent of the one of Trump at the opening of a counterterrorism center in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Trump, the Saudi king and the president of Egypt gathered around a lighted orb.

Solberg posted a montage of the two photos on her Facebook page with a note about sustainability.