Donald Trump raised the possibility of Iceland becoming the 51st state of the USA during a private phone call with then-Icelandic Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson in November 2024, according to new reporting by Icelandic media. The disclosure comes days after Trump shared a map placing Iceland under the American flag and Reykjavík formally protested the post.
Trump raised Iceland’s status directly with Bjarni Benediktsson
The conversation took place on 26 November 2024, four days before Iceland’s parliamentary election and shortly after Trump had won the USA presidential election but before he returned to the White House.
According to RÚV, Trump initially spoke about the interest of friends and relatives in Iceland before saying, reportedly in a joking tone, that there had been discussion of Iceland becoming the 51st state of the USA.
Benediktsson reportedly treated the comment as a joke and dismissed the idea. Trump then interrupted and encouraged him to think seriously about it after his election victory, according to sources who have seen notes from the conversation.
Heimildin said it independently spoke to a person within the Icelandic administration who confirmed the substance of the exchange.
There is no recording or formal transcript of the call. It did not take place through the usual official channels, but an international affairs official from the Prime Minister’s Office listened to the conversation and prepared written notes.
The official account did not mention the 51st-state proposal
The Icelandic government publicly acknowledged the call the following day, but its official account from 27 November 2024 did not mention any discussion of Iceland becoming part of the USA.
Instead, the government said Benediktsson and Trump had discussed bilateral relations, trade, NATO and security cooperation. The statement also said Trump had shown particular interest in Iceland as a tourist destination and in its history and culture.
Benediktsson himself described the conversation in similarly positive terms at the time. He said the two had discussed trade, North Atlantic security and continued support for Ukraine, and that Trump had sent greetings to Icelanders.
The newly reported notes therefore suggest that a politically sensitive part of the conversation was absent from the public description issued at the time.
Iceland refuses to release the notes
RÚV asked both the Prime Minister’s Office (Forsætisráðuneytið) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Utanríkisráðuneytið) for access to the notes, but the request was rejected.
The Foreign Ministry argued that publication could damage the relationship of trust underlying Iceland’s relations with a foreign state and therefore harm Icelandic interests. According to RÚV, officials considered those interests more important than the general public interest in releasing the document.
Benediktsson has also declined to give a detailed account of the exchange, arguing that, as a former minister, it should be for the current government to decide whether the notes should become public.
RÚV reported that several people who have read the document interpret Trump’s comments differently. Some regard them as humour, while others believe they should be taken more seriously, particularly because ideas initially presented jokingly by Trump have later become explicit political positions.
The matter has also reportedly been presented to Alþingi’s Foreign Affairs Committee (utanríkismálanefnd).
The disclosure changes the context of Trump’s map
The revelation comes only days after Trump posted a map on Truth Social showing Iceland, Greenland, Canada and several other countries covered by the American flag.
The image prompted Minister for Foreign Affairs (Utanríkisráðherra) Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir to summon the USA ambassador. She described the post as inappropriate, while Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said its implication was insulting to Icelanders, Greenlanders and Canadians.
Until the latest reporting, there was no public evidence that Trump had directly raised the idea of bringing Iceland under USA sovereignty with an Icelandic prime minister.
The November 2024 phone call changes that context. Although it remains unclear how seriously Trump intended the proposal at the time, it shows that the idea of Iceland as part of the USA preceded this week’s map by almost two years and was raised directly in a conversation with Iceland’s head of government.
The episode also adds a transparency question for Reykjavík. The public statement issued after the call presented Trump’s interest in Iceland in terms of tourism, culture, trade and security, while the reported reference to Iceland becoming the 51st USA state remained undisclosed.
Trump has followed a similar pattern elsewhere. His suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state were initially described by Canadian officials as jokes before Trump later said publicly that he was serious. His interest in acquiring Greenland, first widely reported during his first presidency, has likewise developed into a sustained political demand.
For Iceland, there is still no declared USA policy seeking annexation or control. The newly revealed conversation nevertheless means that Trump’s latest map can no longer be viewed only as an isolated social-media provocation: the idea of Iceland becoming part of the USA had already been raised directly with an Icelandic prime minister.
