President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland is doing damage control after an imperalist joke he made didn’t land.
Former GOP Rep. Billy Long, who served the shortest-ever stint as IRS commissioner last summer before Trump nominated him for the ambassador position, is backpedaling after he joked on the House floor Tuesday night that Iceland would become the 52nd state and he would be its governor.
“There was nothing serious about that,” Long told Alaska-based news site Arctic Today.
“I was with some people who I hadn’t met for three years, and they were kidding about [U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland] Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland, and they started joking about me,” he added. “If anyone took offense to it, then I apologize.”
Icelandic authorities did not find Long’s “joke” funny.
The nation’s foreign ministry launched an inquiry into the matter with the U.S. embassy in Reykjavík, and an official petition demanding that the Foreign Minister not accept Long’s ambassadorship has reached over 3800 signatures as of publication.
“These words by Billy Long, who has been nominated by Donald Trump as ambassador to Iceland, may have been spoken in a half-hearted manner, but they are insulting to Iceland and Icelanders, who have had to fight for their freedom and have always been a friend of the United States,” the petition, translated from Icelandic, reads.
“We want Þorgerður Katrín to reject Billy Long as ambassador to Iceland and call for the United States to nominate another person who shows more respect for Iceland and Icelanders,” it concludes, calling for action from Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir.
Long’s comments about a 52nd state follow numerous comments from President Donald Trump, 79, about taking control of ally nations. At the start of his second term, Trump frequently stated he wanted Canada to become the “51st state.”
In January, he extended that campaign to include Greenland, insinuating that he would even engage in “military action” in order to take over the world’s largest island.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen,” Trump told a New York Post reporter aboard Air Force One. “One way or the other, we’re gonna have Greenland.”
Sigmar Guðmundsson, a member of the nation’s ruling party, told local newspaper MBL that Long’s comments were “very serious for a small country like Iceland.”
Long told Arctic Today he wasn’t aware of Iceland’s reaction to his comments, but said he could understand it considering the diplomatic tensions surrounding Trump’s open desire to take over Greenland.
“I apologize, and that’s my only comment,” he said. “I look forward to working with the people of Iceland, and I apologize it was taken that way. I was with a group of friends, and there was nothing serious about it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Politico that Long was “probably having some fun” and “I wouldn’t read too much into that.”
Long, 70, was booted from his short-lived appointment as IRS commissioner last summer after serving less than two months.
His departure was due to a series of blunders, including a premature announcement about when tax filing season would start and his dearth of experience in tax administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took over as acting commissioner in his absence.
Long announced in August that Trump had appointed him as ambassador to Iceland, though Long has yet to be confirmed by Congress.
