Iceland has summoned the United States ambassador after President Donald Trump shared a social-media image depicting Iceland and several other countries beneath the American flag, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV reported.
The map portrayed the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean under one US flag. Across the combined landmass, the label read “United States of America.”
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Mr Trump posted the image on his Truth Social account but offered no explanation for it.
Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir, summoned Billy Long, the US ambassador to Iceland, according to RÚV. Mr Long formally assumed the role only last month.
The US State Department, the US embassies in Copenhagen and Reykjavik, and the US consulate in Nuuk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iceland’s foreign ministry likewise did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Trump’s repeated claims in recent years that the United States should acquire Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory, have strained relations between Washington and Copenhagen. Both countries are founding members of NATO, and the dispute has also unsettled governments across Europe.
Iceland voted last month against reopening negotiations on European Union membership in a referendum held against the backdrop of Mr Trump’s ambitions for Greenland.
Some advocates of restarting the talks pointed to concerns over US reliability and argued that closer ties with the EU could offer greater security. Analysts, however, said domestic economic issues were ultimately the main force behind the result.
Mr Trump’s post appeared only 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 the Danish news agency Ritzau in Nuuk, said Greenland’s government and population had made their position clear.
“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.”
