Rubio's NATO tour mops up Trump ambassador controversies — SkimNews
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- Rubio began a three-nation NATO tour Tuesday in Iceland, with additional stops planned in Greece and Portugal before returning to Washington on Thursday.
- Trump alarmed Icelanders by posting a map showing U.S. flag colors sprawling across North America, Greenland, and Iceland, prompting Iceland Foreign Secretary Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir to summon U.S. Ambassador Billy Long and call the post "unacceptable."
- Ambassador Billy Long apologized after joking about Iceland becoming the 52nd U.S. state; thousands of Icelanders had signed a petition urging the prime minister to reject his appointment.
- Iceland had already been on edge after Trump mistakenly named the country four times while speaking about Greenland, despite the two being just 290 km apart.
- Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced he will investigate allegations against U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle reported by The Wall Street Journal, including her allegedly telling guests the U.S. could undermine the Greek government.
- Rubio has defended Guilfoyle as an "incredible advocate" for the president's agenda on energy; the administration views Greece as central to exporting U.S. LNG to southeastern and central Europe.
Why it matters: Rubio's tour functions as damage control for provocations originating inside the Trump administration — from a flag-map social media post to a sitting ambassador's "52nd state" joke — that have unsettled NATO's smallest member even after the Greenland deal was struck. In Greece, the Guilfoyle allegations and a looming congressional investigation add a second diplomatic headache to a European agenda the administration has tied to LNG exports.
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