Iceland's government has summoned the United States ambassador following a social media post by President Donald Trump. The post featured a map where Iceland and several other countries were covered by an American flag.
Iceland's Foreign Minister, Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, held a formal meeting with U.S. Ambassador Billy Long. She described the image as completely inappropriate and said that if it was intended as a joke, it was a bad joke. The shared map included nations from Honduras to Canada with the Stars and Stripes image across them, but it came with no caption or explanation.
The incident created diplomatic tension for Iceland, a North Atlantic island nation of 400,000 people. Relations have been sensitive recently, partly because of past comments by the U.S. president regarding neighboring Greenland. A recent vote in Iceland on whether to restart negotiations to join the European Union was moved earlier, partly due to political posture over Greenland.
Other countries shown on the map also reacted quickly. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on social media that Mexico is a free and independent nation. Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasized that the people of Greenland have no interest in becoming American and that the territory is not for sale.