Norway Tourism Agency Launches Toilet Campaign After Trump Insult

Visit Norway, the state-run tourism agency, published a guide to what it describes as some of the world's most beautiful and spectacular toilets this week. The campaign, titled 'Norway makes shithouses great again,' responded directly to remarks made by President Donald Trump. The agency's social media post acknowledged the president's comments, stating, 'So, we heard some noise about ‘s..house country.' What can we say, we do have some of the world’s most beautiful and spectacular toilets.' The initiative went viral within days of its release.

Trump made the remarks on Sunday at a political rally in Port Huron, Michigan. He told the crowd, 'Norway has become a shithouse country, actually.' The comments came ahead of the U.S. midterm elections and followed an earlier award of the Nobel Peace Prize to international jurist Navi Pillay. Trump has long expressed a desire for the Nobel Peace Prize but has voiced doubt that the Norwegian committee would award it to him. His criticism of Norway intensified after the prize was given to Pillay earlier this month.

This is not the first time Trump has used such language to describe nations. In 2018, he referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole countries' during a debate on immigration preferences. At that time, he said he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway. His view of Oslo has since soured, largely due to disagreements over the Nobel committee's decisions.

Evgenia Egorova, the social media lead for Visit Norway, told The Associated Press that her team had prepared similar content for World Toilet Day, which is scheduled for Nov. 19. She said the team was delighted to repurpose the material for the current political moment. 'When life gives you lemons or quotes like this, you just do the lemonade, and all the viral content,' Egorova said with a laugh on Friday. She described the reaction to the campaign as overwhelmingly positive.

The guide features specific locations with architectural distinctiveness. The free toilets at the Stegastein viewpoint sit on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Aurlandsfjord. A large window allows users to see outside while preventing others from peering in. DesignCurial ranked this facility No. 1 on its list of the world's 10 best public toilets in 2015. The list also includes the Gulldassen, or Golden Toilet, on Senja Island. Built in 2014, the triangular restroom serves as a popular stop for tourists.

The use of toilets in political commentary involving Trump is not new. Earlier this year, a resistance art group installed a golden toilet on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to protest White House renovations. During his first term, the Guggenheim Museum offered to lend a solid gold toilet titled 'America' by Maurizio Cattelan to the First Family after a request for a Van Gogh painting. That specific artwork was stolen in 2019 in a raid that prosecutors called audacious. Two thieves were convicted last year, but the latrine has never been recovered.

The campaign provides a lighthearted counterpoint to the president's rhetoric while showcasing the country's infrastructure. The Stegastein viewpoint and the Gulldassen remain accessible to visitors who wish to see the featured facilities. The tourism agency has not indicated whether the campaign will expand beyond the initial social media post.