President Donald Trump welcomed Finland's President Alexander Stubb to the White House on Thursday for talks expected to focus on trade, Ukraine and partnership on the construction of icebreaker ships aimed at bolstering Arctic defense.

During a NATO summit in June, U.S. President Donald Trump said Finland was the “king of icebreakers” and suggested the U.S. might be willing to buy as many as 15 of them, including the used icebreaker that Trump said might be immediately available.

In July of 2024, the U.S., Canada and Finland signed The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact, which aims to leverage Finland’s advanced shipbuilding expertise and technologies to help meet U.S. and Canadian demand for new icebreakers.

Russia has vastly more icebreaker ships than the U.S. and Canada at a time when climate change has made the remote but strategically important Arctic more accessible.