Washington, Jan 24: 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.”
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.”
