A provocative social media post by US President Donald Trump has prompted Iceland to summon Washington’s top diplomat in Reykjavik, after an image appeared online showing the island and several other countries draped in the American flag, according to local broadcaster RÚV.
The graphic depicted the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean all covered by the US flag, with the combined landmass labelled “United States of America.”
Mr Trump shared the image on his Truth Social platform and offered no explanation.
In response, Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir, called in Billy Long, the US ambassador to Iceland, who formally assumed the role only last month, RÚV reported.
“The position was clearly expressed that the post was completely inappropriate,” the foreign ministry told RÚV.
Requests for comment were not immediately answered by the US State Department, the US embassies in Copenhagen and Reykjavik, or the US consulate in Nuuk.
The Icelandic foreign ministry also did not reply to a separate request for comment.
The incident lands amid lingering friction over Mr Trump’s repeated assertions in recent years that the United States must acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory—remarks that have strained ties between Washington and Copenhagen, both founding NATO members, and added to unease more broadly across Europe.
Last month, Iceland voted against reopening EU membership talks in a referendum held with Mr Trump’s designs on Greenland as part of the political backdrop.
Supporters of renewed talks had pointed to worries about US reliability as a reason to pursue closer EU ties, though analysts said domestic economic concerns were ultimately decisive in the outcome.
Mr Trump’s post also arrived just hours after the European Commission announced a €200 million ($232.50 million) investment in Greenland during a visit by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, speaking to Danish news agency Ritzau in Nuuk, said Greenland’s message had not wavered.
“The Greenlandic government and the Greenlandic people have said again and again that they do not want to be American,” she said.
“I hope no one is in any doubt about that, either in the United States or the rest of the world.”
