President Donald Trump has sparked fresh controversy after appearing to repeatedly confuse Greenland with Iceland during a high-profile speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The slip-ups came despite his renewed and highly publicized insistence that the United States should acquire Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory that has long rejected such advances.
The 79-year-old president took the stage on Wednesday (21 January) before an audience of world leaders, diplomats, government officials, and business executives. His address, which lasted over an hour, focused heavily on geopolitics, NATO relations, and his long-standing ambition to bring Greenland under U.S. control.
Throughout the speech, Trump emphasized that while the United States possessed overwhelming military power, he had no intention of using force to achieve his goals. “If I decided to use excessive force, we’d be unstoppable,” he said, before quickly adding: “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.” He instead framed the potential acquisition as a diplomatic and strategic negotiation.
Trump went on to claim that he was seeking “immediate negotiations” over Greenland and later announced that he had formed what he described as a “framework for a future deal” following discussions with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. According to Trump, these developments were significant enough that he would hold off on imposing new tariffs on several European countries, including the UK.
However, much of the online reaction focused less on trade or diplomacy and more on Trump’s apparent geographical confusion. While discussing Greenland’s strategic importance, he repeatedly referred to the territory as “Iceland,” a separate Nordic country with its own government and NATO membership.
In one moment that drew widespread attention, Trump told the audience: “I’m helping NATO, and until the last few days when I told them about Iceland, they loved me.” Observers quickly pointed out that he was clearly referencing Greenland, not Iceland. He later added, “And Iceland, I can tell you,” further blurring the distinction between the two.
The mix-up continued when Trump blamed market fluctuations on what he called “Iceland.” “The stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland,” he said, claiming the territory had already “cost us a lot of money.” In reality, analysts attributed the brief dip to Trump’s tariff threats against European nations rather than any developments related to Greenland or Iceland.
Despite video footage showing the repeated references, the White House strongly denied that any mistake had been made. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back after NewsNation journalist Libbey Dean reported that Trump appeared to confuse the two countries multiple times.
“No he didn’t,” Leavitt wrote on X. “His written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.” She accompanied her response with an image of ice in Greenland, apparently intended to underscore her point.
Leavitt later told Fox News that Trump’s speech was extremely well received by those in attendance. “I was in the room,” she said. “It had rave reviews. The President tells it like it is.” Still, critics argue that confusing two strategically significant regions during a global economic forum undermines the seriousness of his territorial ambitions.
For now, Greenland remains firmly outside U.S. control—and Iceland, despite the verbal mix-ups, appears to be safe from any unexpected acquisition talks.
