President Donald Trump confused Greenland and Iceland so much that Reykjavík hired a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., for advice, according to a new report.
Trump had repeatedly appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.
The president has pushed for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, since before he returned to the White House. Trump has claimed the country needs Greenland for “national security” purposes, warning that it is threatened by adversaries Russia and China.
In his Davos speech, Trump said, referring to European nations, “They’re not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you.” But it was Greenland that European leaders rebuked Trump over, writing in a statement that the mineral-rich Arctic island “belongs to its people.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt falsely claimed that Trump did not incorrectly refer to Greenland as Iceland in his speech.
A newsletter published by The Bulwark Tuesday revealed that Iceland’s ambassador to the U.S., Svanhildur Hólm Valsdóttir, had hired lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to “provide strategic advice on navigating engagements with the United States government.”
The Bulwark cited a Department of Justice filing dated last Wednesday that included a letter to the ambassador from Jason Buckner, an attorney with the lobbying firm, that laid out their agreement. The agreement included a monthly retainer fee of $25,000 for the next six months.
The filing went in-depth about what Brownstein would actually do to help the government of Iceland, including introducing officials to U.S. government stakeholders and giving “constructive feedback on emerging priorities” for Iceland.
While it’s not explicitly clear whether this new relationship has to do with Trump’s recent comments, The Bulwark pointed out the curious timing of it all.
“Not only did [the agreement] come just a week after Trump’s repeated apparent substitution of Iceland for Greenland in his belligerent Davos speech, but earlier in January, Trump’s nominee to serve as ambassador to Iceland, Billy Long, joked to his former House colleagues that the country would become America’s 52nd state with himself installed as its governor,” the newsletter read.
Long later apologized for his comments, telling nonprofit news site Arctic Today, “There was nothing serious about that, I was with some people, who I hadn’t met for three years, and they were kidding about [Louisiana governor and special envoy to Greenland] Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland and they started joking about me and if anyone took offense to it, then I apologize.”
The Independent has reached out to the Icelandic embassy in D.C. for comment.
