Reference News Network January 22 report: "First Greenland, then Iceland (First Greenland, next Iceland)?" At a time when the U.S. government has repeatedly threatened to seize Greenland, The Politico website reported that the U.S. ambassador to Iceland, Billy Long, privately joked that Iceland would become the 52nd state of the United States. Although it is reported that Long later apologized for the remarks, a petition rejecting Long's appointment as ambassador has already gathered more than 3,500 signatures.

At the same time, former Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson also warned that an American attempt to invade Greenland by force would lead to "monumental consequences," saying, "The impact will be something we have never seen in our lifetime."

The sense of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will feel the cold" in Iceland regarding Greenland comes not only from real but ambiguous threats, but can also be traced back to their historical roots. Around 982 AD, "Erik the Red," who came from Iceland, arrived at today's largest island and named it "Greenland." Although The National Geographic website stated in an article titled "Is Iceland Really Green and Greenland Really Icy?" in 2016 that when "Erik the Red" settled in southern Greenland, the local temperature might indeed have been higher than now and the vegetation was lush, the common belief is that "Erik the Red" intentionally called this icy land "green" to attract more Icelanders to follow him.

Even though Greenland is now covered in ice, the United States still intends to "invade without being invited." It is worth noting that protesters held signs in front of the U.S. embassy in Denmark with the slogan "USA already has too much ICE." Here, "ICE" is a double entendre, referring both to "hands off" the icy (ice) covered Greenland, and mocking the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has caused public outrage due to its brutal enforcement.

In the eyes of American people, the immigration and customs enforcement agency, which also "invades without being invited," is becoming increasingly "cold-hearted" in name. As the current U.S. administration continues to escalate actions against immigrants, data from The Guardian website shows that in 2025, 32 people died while in the custody of ICE, making it the year with the highest number of deaths by the agency in over two decades. On January 7, after ICE officers shot and killed a woman named Renee Goud in Minneapolis, members of Congress, witnesses, and non-governmental organizations all accused ICE of "killing in cold blood." Protests across the country carried the slogan "ICE Out For Good"—a double entendre again: it means both "ICE go away for Good for Goud" and "ICE go away forever."

Cold U.S. power cannot freeze all hot blood; its icy response ("first Minnesota, then Copenhagen") will likely see more in the future. (Zhang Yining)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7598090233149719082/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.