The nominee for ambassador to Iceland put forward by President Donald Trump has apologized after a jest he made about the nation becoming the U.S.’s 52nd state triggered backlash amidst escalating tensions related to Trump’s .
“That wasn’t meant to be serious at all,” said Billy Long, a former Republican congressman from Missouri who briefly served as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service under Trump last year. “I was with some people I hadn’t seen in three years, and they were ribbing about Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland, and then they started teasing me. If anyone took offense, I apologize.” Landry is the U.S. envoy to Greenland.
Long encountered criticism and calls for his nomination to be rejected from Icelanders after reported that he had quipped Iceland would become the 52nd state and he would be made governor while conversing with lawmakers on the House floor Tuesday night.
A petition urging Iceland’s Foreign Minister Katrín Gunnarsdóttir to reject Long’s nomination currently has nearly 4,000 signatures.
The petition states, “The words of Billy Long, whom Donald Trump has nominated as ambassador to Iceland, might have been uttered half-heartedly, but they are offensive to Iceland and Icelanders, who have fought for their freedom and have always been a friend of the United States.” It goes on to urge Gunnarsdóttir to “reject Billy Long as ambassador to Iceland and ask the United States to nominate another individual who will show more respect to Iceland and its people.”
Before the nominee apologized, Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself requested clarification from the U.S. and stated in a statement, “The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has contacted the U.S. Embassy in Iceland to verify the authenticity of the alleged remarks.”
Hanging over Long’s joke and the resulting outcry are Trump’s repeated threats to take control of Greenland, an autonomous island territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and his Administration’s indication that the use of force could be an option in the President’s drive to acquire the island.
Greenland, Denmark, and several other European countries have strongly resisted the annexation threats. A coalition of top European leaders signed a joint declaration affirming Greenland’s sovereignty, and Denmark is present in the territory, with European countries such as France and Germany sending small contingents to the island as a sign of support.
The Danish Prime Minister has stated that U.S. intervention in Greenland would spell the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), of which both Denmark and the U.S. are founding members.
Greenland’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stated in a news conference on Tuesday, “We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we had to choose between the United States and Denmark right now, we would choose Denmark.”
While several members of Trump’s own party in the U.S. have also opposed the push to acquire the territory, Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida introduced a bill this week to make Greenland the 51st U.S. state.
Trump had also previously expressed a desire to and make it the 51st state.
