Iceland’s government is reportedly fuming after President Trump shared a map online depicting the island nation swallowed up by the American flag, prompting officials in Reykjavik to summon the U.S. ambassador for an explanation.
The controversy began when Trump posted an image to his Truth Social account showing the Stars and Stripes stretched across North America, Greenland, Iceland, Central America and the Caribbean. The graphic carried a bold label: “United States of America.” Trump offered no context or explanation for the post, leaving foreign officials to interpret its meaning on their own.
The move is the latest in a string of territorial suggestions from the president, who has previously floated the idea of the U.S. absorbing both Greenland and Canada.
Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir wasted no time responding, calling in U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Billy Long to address the image directly. According to Icelandic public broadcaster RUV, the Foreign Ministry made clear to Long that the president’s post was “completely inappropriate.”
Long, a former Missouri congressman and IRS commissioner who took up his ambassadorial post in May, has already had a rocky start in Reykjavik. He previously found himself apologizing after joking that Iceland could become the 52nd U.S. state, with himself serving as governor. That remark sparked outrage among Icelanders and even led to a petition opposing his appointment as ambassador.
Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Gunnarsdóttir did not mince words, describing Trump’s map as “absurd” and insulting not just to Icelanders but to the people of Greenland and Canada as well.
“There is nothing funny or normal about making fun of the sovereignty of states,” she said. “If this is supposed to be a joke, then it is a bad joke.”
While Trump has never formally proposed annexing Iceland, his ongoing interest in acquiring Greenland — a semiautonomous Danish territory — has kept tensions simmering in the region. Greenlandic leaders have repeatedly stated the island is not for sale and that they have no desire to join the United States.
That sentiment was echoed Monday by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who was visiting Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, when she reaffirmed her government’s position. Frederiksen told Danish news agency Ritzau that both Greenland’s government and its residents have made their stance clear time and again.
“The Greenlandic government and the Greenlandic people have said again and again that they do not want to be American,” Frederiksen said. “I hope no one is in any doubt about that, either in the United States or the rest of the world.”
As of now, the White House has not issued any statement clarifying the intent behind the map or responding to Iceland’s formal objection.
