Iceland summons US ambassador over Trump post featuring map
Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs summoned the US ambassador after President Donald Trump published an image on social media depicting Iceland as part of the United States. Channel NewsAsia reports, citing a statement from Iceland’s Foreign Ministry.
Icelandic Foreign Ministry’s response
According to the ministry, Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir summoned the US ambassador to convey Iceland’s position: the published image was considered completely inappropriate.
On Monday, Trump posted a map of North America on social media. Canada, Greenland, Mexico, most of Central America, the Caribbean region and Iceland were colored in the colors of the US flag. The entire depicted area bore the words “United States of America,” and the US president provided no explanation for the post.
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Security context and Denmark’s position
Iceland has had no armed forces of its own since gaining independence in 1944 and relies on Washington for security matters. The country is one of NATO’s founding members and has a bilateral defense agreement with the United States concluded in 1951.
Commenting on the map during a visit to Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Greenland’s government and people had repeatedly stated that they did not want to be American. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark and is located less than 300 kilometers from Iceland.
