Iceland summons US ambassador over flag map post
President Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform over the Labor Day weekend to post an AI-generated video depicting himself as the Green Lantern superhero, a map showing a US flag over much of North America, and a video proposing that New Mexico be renamed “New America,” The Guardian reported.
The AI-generated video shows Trump wielding a glowing green power ring to erect his border wall, illuminate an “American manufacturing” scene, and command a fleet of warplanes and warships behind him. It adds to a series of AI-generated images Trump has shared depicting himself as Superman, the pope, Atlas from Greek mythology, and a Christ-like figure.
In a separate post over the weekend, Trump shared a map with a US flag emblazoned over most of North America and several Central American countries, as well as Greenland, Iceland, and many Caribbean islands. Iceland has summoned its US ambassador over the post, according to The Guardian. Trump also separately claimed the moon in another post.
Trump’s proposal to rename New Mexico came in two posts: first, a map of the state with the word “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America”; hours later, what appears to be an AI-generated video of him placing an “America” label over the word “Mexico” on a “Welcome to New Mexico” road sign.
New Mexico’s name predates the founding of the United States and is explicitly enshrined in its state constitution. Trump has no legal authority to rename the state—or any other US state—and any change to its name would have to come from the state itself and would require a formal constitutional amendment, according to The Guardian.
The New Mexico push comes amid tense trade negotiations with Mexico and follows Trump’s signing of an executive order directing federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid his escalating trade war with Canada after negotiations last month failed to produce a deal.
The “Lake America” order directs federal agencies to adopt the new name on US maps, documents, and databases, but Trump has no authority to rename Canada’s portion of the lake, nor to compel Canada, international legal bodies, international mapmakers, or the rest of the world to adopt it, according to The Guardian.
Trump has spent much of his second term taunting Canada with the suggestion of making it the 51st US state through “economic force” and aggressively pushing for the annexation of Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory—a push that has sparked a major geopolitical row, The Guardian reported. He has also threatened military action in Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia, threatened to seize the Panama Canal, and mused about taking over other countries including Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
In earlier posts, Trump joked about renaming either the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, or the Strait of Hormuz—central to his war against Iran—to “Trump strait.” He declined to elaborate on that idea when asked by a reporter in the Oval Office last week.