The Icelandic Foreign Ministry said it summoned US Ambassador Billy Long to a meeting after US President Donald Trump published a map showing the island covered with the American flag. According to the Icelandic public broadcaster RUV.
On Monday, Trump posted a photo with a map of North America, showing countries such as Canada, Greenland and Iceland colored with the American flag.
The map was tagged as “United States of America” and he shared the post without adding any further explanation.
Screenshot of US President Donald Trump’s Social Truth post.
@RealDonaldTrump/Social Truth
“It’s an insult to Icelanders, Canadians and Greenlanders,” Icelandic Prime Minister Kristron Frostadóttir told reporters on Tuesday, referring to Trump’s Monday post on the Truth Social website.
“There is nothing funny or natural about mocking the sovereignty of states, especially today, when sovereignty cannot be taken for granted,” Frostadóttir added.
Frostadóttir added that the reason for summoning the ambassador to the meeting was to “make it absolutely clear that this, from our point of view, is completely unacceptable.”
She added: “People within the US administration have repeatedly told me that we should not take the current US president literally, but we should take him seriously.” “This is exactly what we are doing, as we affirm that Iceland is an independent, sovereign state responsible for its future.”
“No one else can decide or compromise our independence or sovereignty. We do it on our own terms. We do it here at home, together,” Frostadóttir said.
Frostadóttir said Iceland would continue to stand by the people of Greenland and would not soften its position on the issue, RUV reported.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called the post “disturbing and in many ways completely inappropriate.”
“It’s clearly a sign that the American president still has some kind of extremist vision in mind. We need to rein in that,” Loki Rasmussen told national radio DR on Tuesday.
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The Arctic countries have been witnessing a state of tension since Trump intensified his rhetoric at the beginning of the year regarding US control over Greenland.
His position on Monday came as the European Union seeks to reassure Greenland with the promise of a stronger partnership and hundreds of millions of euros in investments following Trump’s repeated threats.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has shared a map with Greenland covered in the American flag.
In January, Katie Miller, wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Published on X From the area covered with the American flag, reading “Coming Soon.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Fredrik Nielsen I took the picture In a post at the time, he wrote: “First of all, let me say calmly and clearly, there is no reason for panic or insecurity.”
“The photo shared by Katie Miller from Greenland wrapped in the American flag changes nothing. Our country is not for sale and our future is not determined by social media posts,” he wrote.
“But the image is disrespectful. Relations between countries and peoples are built on respect and international law and not on symbolic signs that ignore our status and rights.
“Don’t panic. But there is good reason to speak out against disrespect.”
Trump has repeatedly called for US jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not clearly ruled out using military force to take control of the mineral-rich and strategically located Arctic island, an autonomous Danish region.
Trump said in January that anything short of the Arctic island falling into US hands would be “unacceptable.”
During an unrelated White House event on rural health care, he recounted how European allies had threatened to impose tariffs on medicines.
“I might do it for Greenland too,” Trump said. “I might impose tariffs on countries if they don’t agree to Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So, I might do that.”
European leaders have insisted that only Denmark and Greenland decide matters related to the region, and Denmark said it is increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.
By July, Trump revived his Greenland speech and said the United States should control the region while threatening to “withdraw” US forces from Europe.
“Greenland is not helping Denmark,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Denmark is not spending money to really help Greenland, but it is an important part of the United States.”
Trump said the island was “surrounded by Chinese ships and Russian ships,” adding that Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not Denmark.”
He added: “We can get all our soldiers out of Europe.”
—With files from Uday Rana of Global News and the Associated Press
&Copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
