Thousands of Icelandic people sign petition after offensive comments from U.S. envoy

Thousands of people have now signed a petition expressing their anger towards Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to Iceland, who reportedly joked that the Nordic country should become the 52nd US state. Just hours before Denmark and Greenland were supposed to meet in the U.S. to try to deter Donald Trump's annexation rhetoric, news site Politico released comments directed at the issue from a top U.S. official. According to Politico, Rep Billy Long, Trump's nominee for ambassador to Iceland, joked on the floor to fellow representatives that Iceland will become the 52^nd state of the U.S.

Iceland responded to the article immediately, with the foreign ministry reaching out to U.S. officials, questioning the validity of the statement. Shortly after, a petition from the Icelandic public surfaced, calling on Iceland's foreign minister, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, to reject Long as ambassador to the country. The petition recognized that, even if the statements were made in jest, they remain offensive to the Icelandic people and insulting to Iceland's longstanding support for the U.S. Within hours of the petition's launch, it had garnered nearly 3,500 signatures, encouraging the U.S. to find a more fitting representative.

Rep Billy Long apologized for his comments hours later, claiming they were indeed said in jest during a conversation with Jeff Landry, Trump's US special envoy to Greenland. Certainly, neither Iceland nor Greenland would appreciate their envoys joking about the nation's annexation. While Long acknowledged that the comments could have been offensive, he also refused to apologize any further, stating that the comments were a joke and that he looks forward to working with the people of Iceland. Rep Long will have to wait and see whether Trump will heed the wishes of Iceland's population and find a new special envoy for the Nordic country, or whether he will become the least-popular U.S. envoy in Icelandic history.

Trump's annexation dreams

While Trump has never explicitly threatened to annex Iceland, if he's seriously considering actions in Greenland, Iceland is a natural next step. Iceland is one of the countries most publicly opposed to Trump's proposed actions in Greenland and was placed on a list of countries to be slapped with a tariff if they interfere with Trump's plans to annex Greenland. With Trump seemingly committing to advancing action in Greenland, a series of Nations have sent troops to the country, and others, including France, plan on sending land, air, and ground units to defend Greenland. There is currently a bipartisan bill being introduced to the U.S. Congress attempting to halt Trump's annexation of Greenland, but Republican congresspeople have sponsored a bill of their own in support of the annexation. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. The island governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen.