MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump's social media habits have caused an international incident - this time in Iceland. Reporter Adrienne Murray has more.
ADRIENNE MURRAY, BYLINE: Iceland's foreign minister wasted no time summoning the U.S. ambassador to Reykjavik, Billy Long, for a formal meeting on Monday. The post was completely inappropriate, Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir told reporters, and if it was a joke, it was a bad joke. The reprimand followed a post by President Trump to his Truth Social platform which appeared to show Iceland as part of the USA. There was no caption or any explanation with the map, which depicted all the countries from Honduras in the south to Canada in the north emblazoned with the American Stars and Stripes.
It's not the first time that the small North Atlantic island nation of only 400,000 people has been rattled by the U.S. president. During his speech at the World Economic Forum in January, Trump said Iceland four times when he appeared to be referring to Greenland. Last month's referendum in Iceland on whether to restart negotiations to join the EU was also brought forward, in part because of Trump's posturing over its neighbor Greenland, located less than 200 miles away.
This social media post by Trump came as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was visiting Greenland, a Danish territory, in show of support. Speaking to reporters in the capital, Nuuk, Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, also criticized the map.
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PRIME MINISTER METTE FREDERIKSEN: (Through interpreter) The Greenlandic people and government have repeated again and again that they have no interest in becoming American. It is the Greenlandic people that must decide their own future, and, of course, Greenland is not for sale.
MURRAY: Another nation portrayed in Trump's social media post has also responded. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on social media, proudly, we are a free, independent and sovereign nation.
For NPR News, I'm Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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