Iceland’s Government has summoned the United States ambassador in Reykjavík after President Donald Trump posted an image on social media showing the North Atlantic island covered by the American flag. Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir called in Billy Long on September 7, public broadcaster RÚV reported.
The Icelandic foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP that the minister had summoned the ambassador to convey a clear message that the image was “wholly inappropriate”. Long formally took up the post only in August.
Trump published the map on his Truth Social platform without comment. It showed the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean coloured in the US flag and labelled as a single American landmass.
The post appeared hours after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a €200 million ($232 million) investment package for Greenland during a visit to Nuuk. She signed a joint declaration there with Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“Greenland can count on the EU,” von der Leyen said, describing the territory as a strategic ally and a trusted friend. Her two-day visit coincided with the start of Arctic Shield, a NATO exercise involving around 400 troops from 11 countries and no American personnel.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the United States should control Greenland, a self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, for security reasons. He has also floated the annexation of Canada and, in recent days, posted maps renaming the US state of New Mexico as “New America”.
Iceland is not a member of the European Union. Icelanders voted 52.8 per cent to 47.2 per cent on August 29 against reopening accession talks with Brussels, a result welcomed by right-wing parties across the continent.
The country remains tied to the bloc through the European Economic Area, the Schengen free-travel zone and the European Free Trade Association. It belongs to NATO but has no standing army and relies on a bilateral defence agreement with Washington.
Long’s appointment had already caused friction. In January he joked privately with former colleagues in the US House of Representatives that Iceland would become the 52nd state, with himself as its governor.
The remarks prompted a petition urging Gunnarsdóttir to reject him as ambassador and the foreign ministry asked the US embassy in Reykjavík for clarification. Long later apologised, saying the comments had been a joke among friends.
The US State Department and the American embassies in Reykjavík and Copenhagen did not immediately reply to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
