- US President Trump joined the viral Nihilist Penguin meme trend about Greenland
- The meme originates from a 2007 Werner Herzog documentary featuring a wandering penguin
- White House shared an AI image of Trump walking with a penguin toward Greenland's flag
The United States has once again turned its attention to Greenland, this time not through official statements but through a viral meme.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark, has now joined an online trend featuring the widely shared "Nihilist Penguin" meme.
The meme, which has circulated for nearly two decades, originates from Werner Herzog's 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World. The footage shows a lone Adelie penguin separating from its colony and wandering toward the Antarctic. Over time, this clip evolved into what many now call the "Nihilist Penguin," "Lonely Penguin," or "Wandering Penguin" meme.
Leaning into the trend, the White House posted an AI-generated image featuring Trump walking alongside a penguin toward icy mountains.
In the visual, the penguin holds the US flag while the mountains display the flag of Greenland, accompanied by the caption: "Embrace The Penguin."
It's worth noting that in the original documentary, the penguin isn't walking toward Greenland at all, it actually heads deeper into Antarctica, wandering away from its colony and the sea.
Following the post from the White House, social media users began trolling Donald Trump after the image featured a penguin - an animal that does not inhabit the Arctic.
Many online pointed out the factual error and called the post "embarrassing."
Pippa Crerar, a journalist with The Guardian, remarked, "You don't get penguins in the Arctic."
Another user commented, "And they certainly don't have man-size footprints or stride. It's just so embarrassing that they put this out."
A different commenter added, "Nice try. We don't have penguins here in Greenland."
The official X account of the Chief Mouser to the UK Cabinet Office weighed in, writing, "Cat check: Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere."
Some users also edited the image to replace the penguin with a polar bear alongside Trump, while another shared a version showing a penguin telling him, "This is Antarctica."
A few days ago, Trump shared an AI image depicting himself, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio standing beside an American flag and a sign declaring Greenland as a US territory. In the image, Trump is shown holding the American flag next to a marker that reads: "Greenland - US territory est. 2026."
He also posted another AI-generated image on Truth Social showing an expanded map of the United States that included Greenland, Canada, and Venezuela. The visual appeared to be a digitally modified version of a real photograph taken during his August 2025 meeting with European leaders, with the enlarged US map digitally inserted behind him.
Trump began floating the idea of acquiring Greenland after taking office last year but stepped up his rhetoric in recent weeks, threatening a 10% tariff on eight European countries over the weekend that shook investors.
He continued his push in a more than hour-long speech at Davos on Wednesday before meeting with the head of NATO and announcing plans for a new deal that has yet to be defined.
Asked on Thursday what he was willing to pay for the semi-autonomous territory, he added, "We're going to not have to pay anything other than the fact that we are building the Golden Dome."
Trump said any deal would allow "total access" to Greenland, including for the military, "We're getting everything we want at no cost."
