Overview
- Billy Long, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Iceland, acknowledged he joked that Iceland would be the 52nd state and apologized in an interview with Arctic Today.
- Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs said it contacted the U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik to verify the reported comments.
- A citizen petition urging Foreign Minister Katrin Gunnarsdottir to reject Long as ambassador has gathered several thousand signatures.
- Long’s nomination remains pending before the U.S. Senate; he is a former Missouri congressman who briefly served as IRS commissioner last year.
- The flap unfolds as U.S. rhetoric about acquiring Greenland drives transatlantic tension, drawing European pushback and fresh attention to Arctic security.