Denmark’s foreign minister has criticised a “completely inappropriate” social post by Donald Trump appearing to show Greenland and Iceland as part of the US.
– During a flurry of social media posts over the long holiday weekend, the US president posted a map showing the country sprawling across all of North America, and extending to Greenland and Iceland.
– In the post, Canada, Mexico, Iceland and Greenland, as well as islands in the Caribbean, all appear coloured in the red, white and blue stars and stripes of the US flag.
– Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the national broadcaster DR on Tuesday that it was “obviously a sign that the US president still harbours some kind of maximalist vision in his own mind”.
– “We need to rein that in,” the politician said, calling the post “disturbing and, in many ways, completely inappropriate”.
– Iceland’s foreign secretary, Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, summoned US ambassador Billy Long to a meeting and said she made it clear that the post was unacceptable, national broadcaster RUV said.
– President Trump’s post came on Monday as the European Union sought to reassure Greenland with the promise of a stronger partnership and hundreds of millions of euros in investment following Trump’s repeated threats.
– Iceland, another NATO member that is just 180 miles (290km) away from Greenland, became alarmed when Trump mistakenly named the country four times while speaking about his designs on Greenland.
– It led its left-leaning coalition government to move forward a referendum, originally planned for next year, on whether the country should resume long-stalled negotiations to become a member of the EU.
– The measure, which was promoted, in part, as an effort to strengthen ties with Europe to better insulate the country from global instability, was rejected in a referendum on 30 August.
– Mr Trump also suggested renaming the state of New Mexico as “New America”.
– The posts came less than a fortnight after Trump ordered Lake Ontario on the Canadian border to be renamed “Lake America” amid an escalating trade war with Canada.
– In 2025, the US president made headlines when he passed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
– In an apparent response to Trump’s renaming, the creators of TV show South Park have announced it will be renamed South America for its upcoming 29th series.