A seemingly simple social media image has triggered an unusual diplomatic exchange, reviving questions about Washington’s ambitions and the boundaries of presidential rhetoric.
Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir summoned U.S. Ambassador to Reykjavík Billy Long after Donald Trump posted a map of the island under the American flag.
This is reported by the Icelandic broadcaster RUV.
Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs said that during the meeting, the diplomat was told that the post was completely inappropriate.
What Donald Trump’s map showed
Donald Trump posted the map without offering any explanation. The image showed the following territories under the U.S. flag:
The United States, the Caribbean, Central America, Canada, Greenland, and Iceland.
References to Iceland and Greenland
Earlier, during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump mentioned Iceland several times. He blamed the country for the decline in U.S. stock markets and the resulting financial losses.
Later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that the president had misspoken and had actually meant Greenland. However, then-White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected that explanation.
In August, Donald Trump also called the Strait of Hormuz “new territory of the United States.”
The publication of the map prompted a diplomatic response from Iceland, after which the U.S. ambassador was summoned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to explain Washington’s position.