A day after summoning the American ambassador for a formal rebuke, Iceland\u2019s leaders on Tuesday publicly condemned a social media post from President Trump showing the American flag covering their nation along with Greenland, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean states.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an insult to Icelanders, Canadians, Greenlanders,\u201d Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir of Iceland told reporters on Tuesday, referring to Mr. Trump\u2019s Monday post<\/a>, which did not include any written commentary.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is nothing funny or normal about making fun of the sovereignty of states,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Icelanders have been wary of Mr. Trump since he threatened Greenland, their closest neighbor. Now, this social media post feels like a marked escalation in rhetoric, said Eirikur Bergmann, a politics professor at Bifrost University in Iceland.<\/p>\n \u201cIcelanders are used to looking toward the U.S. as Iceland\u2019s defender,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, our protector has become our intimidator.\u201d<\/p>\n The American Embassy in Reykjavik declined to comment on Mr. Trump\u2019s post or Iceland\u2019s response, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s post tests Iceland\u2019s resolve just over a week after the Nordic country voted against exploring European Union membership<\/a>.<\/p>\n That vote sharply divided public opinion<\/a>, as many of the 400,000 people living in Iceland felt like they were at a turning point. Many said that the vote came down to questions<\/a> of how to protect their stability and sovereignty.<\/p>\n Some Icelanders, who wanted to explore membership, saw the bloc as a potential protector<\/a> in a world where superpowers are circling the Arctic and Mr. Trump is shaking international alliances<\/a>. Iceland, the only NATO member without its own military, relies on the alliance for protection. And Mr. Trump\u2019s aggressive remarks about Greenland have alarmed many Icelanders.<\/p>\n Icelandic voters who wanted to explore E.U. talks said in interviews that they were shocked when Mr. Trump repeatedly confused Iceland with Greenland<\/a> in a major speech in January. Many, too, were offended by reports that Billy Long, Mr. Trump\u2019s pick to be the new American ambassador, joked in private that Iceland could become the 52nd state. (Mr. Long apologized<\/a>.)<\/p>\n