In January 2026, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied U.S. President Donald Trump said “Iceland” when he meant “Greenland” during his speech at the World Economic Forum, even though video evidence showed he did confuse the two.
After U.S. President Donald Trump gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2026, a rumor spread online that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied Trump had mistakenly referred to Greenland, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, as Iceland, a sovereign country in the North Atlantic. According to people sharing the claim, Leavitt’s denial contradicted video evidence and credible reporting that Trump did mix up the names multiple times during the speech.
For example, the claim that Leavitt denied Trump’s mix-ups appeared on X and TikTok. One X user asked, “Why do they lie about obvious things?” (archived):
(X user @micah_erfan)
The claim also appeared in an article by the left-leaning media outlet The New Republic. Meanwhile, Snopes readers searched the website seeking to confirm Leavitt had denied Trump had confused Greenland’s and Iceland’s names in his speech.
The rumor was true, as we outline below. An emailed statement from a White House spokesperson did not address our questions about why Leavitt had said Trump had not confused the two places.
Trump’s mistakes
On Jan. 21, 2026, Trump gave a speech in Davos in which he referred to Greenland several times as a “piece of ice.” He discussed Greenland following the international reaction to his stated plan to acquire Denmark’s autonomous territory, as various NATO allies sent military personnel to Greenland to prepare for a possible takeover by the U.S. In the following livestream of the speech from reputable news outlet The Associated Press, Trump referred to Greenland as Iceland starting at the 42:15 and 43:29 time stamps.
His four references to Iceland also appeared in the official transcript of his speech published on the WEF website. Here are the specific quotes, with context:
Starting at 42:15: “Until the last few days when I told them about Iceland, they loved me.” Context showed Trump was using “them” and “they” in this sentence to refer to NATO. Concerns about the U.S. taking over Greenland resulted in new diplomatic brinkmanship between NATO allies in the days leading up to the WEF. Trump had not mentioned Iceland earlier in the speech, and there was no evidence Iceland had been the focus of any discussion or dispute.
Starting at 43:29: “They’re not there for us on Iceland. That I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So, Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money.” In context, it was clear Trump was describing concerns about Greenland, not Iceland, that had roiled the markets the day before Trump’s speech.
(After the speech, Trump said a new framework for negotiations on Greenland was in place, following a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.)
Leavitt’s response
As news outlets and social media users began to comment on Trump’s mix-up, Leavitt shared one such X post (archived) by NewsNation journalist Libbey Dean. Misspelling Dean’s first name, Leavitt claimed that the remark was incorrect (archived):
(X user @PressSec)
No he didn’t, Libby. His written remarks referred to Greenland as a “piece of ice” because that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.
Leavitt referred to Trump’s “written remarks,” not what he had said spoken. Asked why Leavitt would deny Trump had made this mistake, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers replied with a written statement that provided no more clarity on the matter:
President Trump delivered a historic speech in Davos laying out America’s compelling national security interests involving Greenland. Mere hours afterward, President Trump announced the framework for a future deal with respect to Greenland. President Trump continues to deliver results while the failing, liberal media melts down.
We replied, asking again what motivated Leavitt’s denial that Trump had said these words during his speech, which was recorded, widely broadcast and extensively reported on. We will update this report should Rogers respond.
For further reading, Snopes verified that Trump said “Sometimes you need a dictator” during a reception of business leaders in Davos.