A social-media post by US President Donald Trump depicting Iceland and several neighbouring regions draped in the American flag has prompted a swift diplomatic response in Reykjavik, with Iceland summoning the US ambassador, according to local broadcaster RÚV.
The image, shared on Mr Trump’s Truth Social platform without explanation, showed the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean all covered by the US flag. Across the entire landmass, the label read: “United States of America”.
In response, Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir, called in Billy Long, the US ambassador to Iceland, who formally began his posting 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. Iceland’s foreign ministry also did not reply to a separate request for comment.
The incident lands amid lingering strain over Mr Trump’s repeated assertions in recent years that the United States must acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. Those remarks have fuelled tensions between Washington and Copenhagen — both founding NATO members — and have reverberated more broadly across Europe.
Last month, Iceland voted against reopening talks on EU membership in a referendum held against a backdrop in which Mr Trump’s designs on Greenland had featured prominently.
Supporters of renewing negotiations had pointed to concern about US reliability as one argument for closer ties with the European Union, though analysts said domestic economic issues ultimately shaped the outcome.
Mr Trump’s post appeared 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.
Speaking to Danish news agency Ritzau in Nuuk, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Greenland’s message had remained unchanged.
“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.”
