Icebreakers and golf forge Trump and Finnish leader's unlikely friendship

Alexander Stubb has become a key voice for Europe at the White House amid the Ukraine war.

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Instead, it was real ice breakers - 9,000-tonne hulking ships - that sealed a deal between Donald Trump and Finland's President Alexander Stubb, cementing their growing business and personal relations.

Trump was smiling in their Oval Office meeting on Thursday, leaning in slightly, and nodding in agreement to the man who has become, to many, an unlikely spokesman for Europe.

Finland's Alexander Stubb is a leader who, despite his country's relatively small size, has the US president's ear more than most.

"We've been friends for a long time," Trump remarked as they sat, facing each other, under a painting of a young George Washington.