Biden says Finnish reporter may not ‘be able to go home’

HELSINKI, Finland — President Biden grew flustered with a reporter here Thursday and angrily told her that she doesn’t know if she will make it home — after he confused the nations of Iceland and Ireland, the latter of which he called his “home” despite nearly two centuries of genealogical distance.

Iida Tikka, of Finland’s public broadcaster YLE, was the second member of the press in two days to provoke a presidential outburst in response to a question.

“What actions will you take to assure Finland that US will remain a reliable NATO partner for decades to come?” she asked at a press conference after noting fringe American politicians who oppose US membership in the Atlantic alliance.

“I absolutely guarantee it,” Biden began, citing “overwhelming support” for NATO from the US public and Congress before adding, “no one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone could make.”

The reporter then addressed Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, asking: “Hearing this answer that no one can guarantee a future, are you worried that the political instability in the US will cause issues in the alliance in the future?”

“Let me be clear,” Biden interjected, “I didn’t say we didn’t guarantee — we couldn’t guarantee the future. You can’t tell me whether you’re gonna be able to go home tonight. No one can be sure what they’re gonna do.”

“I’m saying, as sure as anything could possibly be said about American foreign policy, we will stay connected to NATO,” he added.

Niinistö tried to lighten the mood, telling the reporter, “It seems that the president has answered your problems” to light chuckles from the assembled media.

Biden’s bizarre soliloquy bemused Finnish journalists, who told The Post after the news conference that the 80-year-old president should know Helsinki is relatively safe and an unlikely place to be victimized while walking home.

The joint press conference began on an awkward note when Biden referred to Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir as a “daughter of Ireland.”

“Daughter of Ireland?” Biden repeated, catching his error.

“You can tell that’s a Freudian slip, I’m thinking of home,” said the president — whose best-known Irish ancestors immigrated to the US in the 1840s and ’50s.

Biden, who is seeking re-election next year despite polling that shows broad doubts about his mental acuity, also grew flustered with an ABC journalist Wednesday at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

When the reporter asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky how long after the end of the Russia war he would wait to join NATO, Biden answered instead.

“An hour and 20 minutes,” snapped the president, before jeering, “You guys ask really insightful questions.”