Iceland summoned the U.S. ambassador on September 7, 2026, after President Donald Trump shared an uncaptioned map on social media depicting Iceland and several other nations under the American flag, prompting swift diplomatic condemnation from Reykjavík and European leaders over threats to national sovereignty.
Iceland Summons U.S. Ambassador Billy Long Over Expansion Map
The post featured no explanatory caption, arriving preceded by a flurry of similar posts renaming the U.S. state of New Mexico as New America. In response to the graphic, Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir called in U.S. Ambassador Billy Long to a formal meeting at the foreign ministry.
Ambassador Long, who formally assumed his diplomatic post in Reykjavík last month after previously serving as a U.S. representative and IRS commissioner, was informed directly of the government’s strong displeasure. According to a written statement provided to public broadcaster RÚV, the position was clearly expressed that the social media post was completely inappropriate.
Prime Minister Frostadóttir Calls the Post an Insult to Sovereign States
Speaking at a press conference alongside her foreign minister, Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir pulled no punches regarding the diplomatic fallout. She characterized the post as an insult to the people of Iceland, Canada, and Greenland, asserting that there was nothing funny or normal about joking with the sovereignty of independent nations.
“This is not a joke in my view, and if it is meant to be a joke, then it is a bad joke.”
Photo: arctictoday.com
Kristrún Frostadóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, via Arctic Today
Frostadóttir noted that while officials within the U.S. administration had previously advised foreign partners not to take the American president literally, Iceland intended to take him seriously. She emphasized that Iceland remains a sovereign, independent state responsible for its own fate, and that no external power can bargain with its independence. The diplomatic friction also intersects with local political currents in Reykjavík, where voters recently rejected reopening European Union accession talks in a referendum influenced heavily by debates over international reliability.
Regional Backlash and European Investments in Greenland
Trump’s map post immediately reignited broader European anxieties regarding U.S. territorial ambitions in the Arctic, particularly Washington’s persistent interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark. Those tensions run parallel to recent financial commitments from Brussels aimed at shoring up infrastructure in the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The controversial map appeared online just hours after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an additional €200 million ($232.50 million) investment in Greenland spanning clean energy, critical minerals, education, and satellite internet connectivity. Touring the capital of Nuuk alongside von der Leyen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen delivered a blunt message regarding local sentiment toward Washington.
“The Greenlandic government and the Greenlandic people have said again and again that they do not want to be American,”
Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, via BBC
Frederiksen added that she hoped no one was in any doubt about that, whether inside the United States or across the rest of the world.
Iceland summons US ambassador after Trump posts map of US annexing island
Omar El Sayed is Archyde’s World Editor, focused on international affairs, diplomacy, conflict, and cross-border political developments. He brings a global newsroom perspective to complex events and helps readers understand how regional stories connect to wider geopolitical shifts.
