Trump posts green map of American flag territory on social media
In addition to Canada and Greenland
Iceland’s prime minister ‘serious insult’ strongly opposes

A map image posted by U.S. President Trump on social media by drawing American flags in Canada, Greenland and Iceland. [Trump Truth Social] 사진 확대 A map image posted by U.S. President Trump on social media by drawing American flags in Canada, Greenland and Iceland. [Trump Truth Social]

U.S. President Donald Trump has shared images of Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean countries covered by the American flag on social media, sparking a strong diplomatic stir. The Icelandic government summoned the US ambassador to Iceland to officially protest, and the top of the country also criticized it publicly.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 8th (local time), Iceland’s Prime Minister Christrun Frostadottir strongly criticized Icelanders, Canadians, and Greenlanders in an interview, saying, “It is neither humorous nor normal to caricature national sovereignty at all.” The post posted by President Trump did not contain a separate phrase.

Icelanders have been anxious about President Trump’s provocative words and actions toward neighboring Greenland. Experts say the image of the American flag has made the situation worse. Icelanders have long regarded the United States as their guardian, according to the NYT, but now our guardian has turned into a blackmailer, said Eirikur Bergman, a political science professor at Bifrost University.

The controversy came just a week after Iceland voted no in a referendum on whether to resume EU accession negotiations. Those who agreed to join the EU viewed the EU as a security fence amid competition among great powers to advance into the Arctic and President Trump’s shaking of the alliance, but it ended in a victory for the opposition to membership.

Professor Bergman analyzed, “As soon as he gave up the option of the EU on his own, he encountered such a threatening message, anxiety within Iceland is increasing further.”

The Icelandic government is continuing a tough response. Iceland’s Foreign Minister Togerdur Kathryn Gunnarsdottir called US Ambassador to Iceland Billy Long to deliver a clear message: “The image is very inappropriate.”

Gunnarsdottir said he had been advised by U.S. administration officials to “not take President Trump’s words literally, but take them with weight,” adding, “This post crossed the line. Even if this is a joke, it is just a bad joke,” he said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Iceland and the White House have not immediately expressed a position on the controversy.