Donald Trump, the US President, was described as “slurring badly and visibly disoriented” during his latest address about Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, he wants to secure
Donald Trump confuses Greenland with Iceland in Davos speech
Social media users have mocked bumbling Donald Trump after he kept referring to Greenland as “Iceland” in his latest ramble about the territory.
The US President has faced criticism following the speech in which he reinforced his desire to secure the self-governing territory of Denmark. Although Mr Trump’s press secretary insisted some members of the press misheard his remarks, footage taken at the conference last night in Davos, Switzerland, clearly shows the hapless world leader repeat the word “Iceland” instead of Greenland.
And it has sent social media into meltdown with memes and GIFS being shared, poking fun at the US President. One US citizen posted: “I prefer presidents who know that Greenland and Iceland are two different places.” Speaking in an interview after Mr Trump’s speech, Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, said the politician had “graded off the curve”.
Addressing to journalists, Mr Trump had said: “They’re not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money.”
READ MORE: Trump in Davos: All you need to know as Donald launches unhinged Greenland rant
In another moment, he said of Nato: “Until the last few days when I told them about Iceland, they loved me.” The demand for the “piece of ice” is “a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades”, he said.
People on Twitter, known now as X, have since to the gaffe. Another user posted: “He called Greenland ‘Iceland’ four times. In addition to the other moments in which he belittled Greenland as a ‘piece of ice.'” One man shared a map, with Iceland highlighted, flagging it as a different place to Greenland.
And one scathing post from a journalist in the US read: “Donald Trump confused Greenland with Iceland as a silent crowd watches in horror as the President of the USA humiliates himself, slurring badly and visibly disoriented.”
But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt leapt to Mr Trump’s defence on social media after the speech, insisting that the public – and reporters – had simply misheard the politician. Responding to an accusation that he made the mix-up, the Press Secretary tweeted: “No he didn’t. 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.”
In the comments under Leavitt’s response to the NewsNation journalist, one social media user said: “It’s almost like there’s no video and the whole world didn’t see it.” Another added: “It doesn’t matter what was in his written remarks. It’s what he said. Watch the clip and stop gaslighting people.”