Iceland summons US ambassador after Trump post showing American flag covering island

Iceland’s government called in the U.S. ambassador on Monday after President Trump posted a map showing the Nordic nation blanketed by the American flag.

Trump, who has previously pushed to take over Greenland and Canada, posted an image to Truth Social of the American flag stretching across North America, Greenland, Iceland, Central America and the Caribbean, with the map labeled “United States of America.”

Trump did not offer an explanation for the post.

Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir summoned U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Billy Long over the image, according to Icelandic public broadcaster RUV .

The Foreign Ministry told the outlet that officials made clear to Long, a former Missouri lawmaker and IRS commissioner who became ambassador in May, that Trump’s post was “completely inappropriate.”

Long himself had previously apologized for joking about Iceland becoming the 52nd U.S. state with himself as governor, which had caused widespread outrage from Icelandic citizens and prompted a petition to prevent his ambassadorship.

At a press conference Tuesday, Gunnarsdóttir said the message was “absurd” and insulting to Icelanders, as well as citizens of Greenland and Canada.

“There is nothing funny or normal about making fun of the sovereignty of states,” she said. “If this is supposed to be a joke, then it is a bad joke.”

While Trump has not formally pushed to take over Iceland in the past, Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland, a semiautonomous territory, from Denmark has led to escalating tensions. Its leaders have said repeatedly that the island is not for sale and does not want to become part of the U.S.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated that position Monday while visiting Greenland’s capital city of Nuuk, saying its government and its residents have repeatedly made clear that they have no interest in being acquired.

“The Greenlandic government and the Greenlandic people have said again and again that they do not want to be American,” she told Danish news agency Ritzau. “I hope no one is in any doubt about that, either in the United States or the rest of the world.”