Trump posts AI map showing US 'takeover' of North America, Iceland and Caribbean

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US President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated map Monday appearing to show the US absorbing Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba and parts of the Caribbean into a giant “United States of America”. Shared without context, the post sparked diplomatic backlash. Iceland summoned its ambassador and Mexico defended its sovereignty. Denmark also pushed back over Greenland. Online, the map has triggered widespread ridicule and questions about Trump’s fitness for office.

The map, posted on Truth Social without a caption or explanation, redrew continental North America in the US flag’s stars and stripes. Canada and Mexico appear annexed within US territory, alongside Greenland and Iceland. Meanwhile Cuba, Jamaica and several French Caribbean territories, including Martinique and Guadeloupe, are also depicted as part of the United States.

The map labels the enlarged territory simply as the “United States of America”, while the Gulf of Mexico is shown as the “Gulf of America," in line with Trump's January executive order to rename it.

It is unclear whether the post was intended as a joke, an attempt to provoke foreign governments or simply to generate attention, but it comes against a backdrop of increasingly provocative territorial rhetoric from the US president.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st US state, angering officials in Ottawa amid an escalating trade dispute. He has also expressed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark and has spoken of the United States “taking back” the Panama Canal.

The latest map goes further, however, appearing to bring countries and territories including Mexico, Iceland and French Caribbean islands into Trump’s imagined US borders.

Trump’s AI ‘conquest’ map sparks diplomatic backlash

The response from some of the countries depicted was swift. Iceland said it had summoned the US ambassador for a meeting, describing the post as “entirely inappropriate”.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was equally unequivocal, saying Mexico would neither be a colony nor a protectorate of another country. “We are a free, independent and sovereign nation,” she posted on X.

Denmark, meanwhile, reiterated its opposition to any US takeover of Greenland, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen telling reporters that both Greenland’s government and its people had repeatedly made clear that they did not want to become American.

Mockery online

Trump's latest map-making has also generated widespread ridicule online, alongside renewed speculation about Trump’s fitness for office.

California state Senator Scott Wiener called the behaviour "unbelievably dangerous" and accused Trump of having a "serious brain disease, whether dementia or something else", while other social media users mocked the president for posting what they described as imaginary maps after spending years criticising Joe Biden over his age.

These reactions were amplified as Trump, over the weekend shared an avalanche of posts at breakneck speed. According to an AFP count, Trump posted 60 times on Sunday alone, followed by another 37 posts in roughly 10 hours on Monday. Many featured AI-generated or AI-manipulated imagery.

The series of posts included one claiming that even the Moon belonged to the US, as well as a string of images renaming the state of New Mexico to "New America", prompting an angry reaction from the state's governor.

Users also declared Trump's online behaviour would be concerning if it came from an elderly relative, and Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree argued that Republicans should be asking whether Trump is fit to remain in office.

Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.