President Donald Trump has again ignited a controversy after appearing, during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to confuse Greenland and Iceland for one another.
His remarks followed several days of bold declarations where President Trump repeatedly stated that he wanted the United States to “own” Greenland, which is part of Denmark’s autonomous territories and member of NATO.
Repeated Mentions of “Iceland”
During Trump‘s speech in Davos, he made several references to Greenland as “Iceland.” He discussed supporting NATO and mentioned that several allied countries were upset with him when he brought up the topic of “Iceland.” At a different time, he commented that he wanted “a piece of ice” that had “significance for global peace and security.” He stated the word “Iceland” approximately four times throughout his comments while it was clear that he was referring to Greenland.
Furthermore, Trump attempted to associate a downward trend on the stock market in America to the “Greenland situation” but continued to call it “Iceland.” He also stated that this situation already cost the United States money and added confusion to the situation. While both Iceland and Greenland are NATO members and adjacent to each other, they could not be more different. For example, Greenland is approximately 20 times larger than Iceland, and Greenland has its own distinct political relationship with Denmark.
White House Steps In
The mix-up was quickly pointed to by journalists and social media users. A post made by NewsNation reporter Libbey Dean led to an immediate and strong response from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who claimed that Trump did not get anything mixed up, and that Trumps reference to “a piece of ice” was actually intentional.
However, the post was subsequently community noted on X with a note explaining how Trump very clearly said “Iceland” several times while referring to Greenland, along with a link to the video of his speech.
Administration Pushes Back
The White House remains firm in support of President Trump despite the empanopolytic criticism directed at the administration’s response to the controversy regarding the president’s comments about wanting to buy Greenland for the United States.
White House communications director Roger Taylor described Trump’s “important” address about national security interests in Greenland, stating the announcement made was part of a “framework” for a future U.S-Greenland agreement.
Taylor suggested that, while the President was achieving results, the media and certain political commentators were concentrating on the “wrong” part of the address regarding the United States’ purchase of Greenland. The discussion over this event and other presidents’ comments about Greenland continues the current public discussion surrounding President Trump’s commitment to NATO and its alliances with the U.S.