Iceland Roundup: Jokes About Iceland Becoming The 52nd State, Greenland Tariffs, Prostitution & Immigration

The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson (later substituted by Grapevine editor-in-chief Bart Cameron) and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to round up the stories making headlines in recent weeks.

On the docket this week:

The U.S. ambassadorial nominee Billy Long has made another joke, further endearing himself to the Icelandic public ahead of his arrival. Previously, he joked that he had wanted to run ICE, but that Donald Trump misheard and instead appointed him ambassador to Iceland.

Last week in Congress, Billy Long was overheard joking that he would become Iceland’s first governor rather than ambassador, as the country became the United States’ 52nd state. The remark did not go down well with the Icelandic public, who assumed Greenland would become the 51st state;

Guðbrandur Einarsson, an MP for Viðreisn (the Reform Party), has resigned from Parliament over an attempted purchase of prostitutio in 2012. He was questioned by police at the time but says he was never charged. He stepped down after  Vísir planned to report on the case;

In an effort to pressure fellow NATO allies amid his continued push to acquire Greenland, President Trump imposed tariffs on all Scandinavian countries, as well as Germany, France and the Netherlands but not Iceland, prompting speculation that he has simply forgot Iceland;

Foreign citizens living in Iceland now number 83,950, accounting for just over 20% of the population, up from 15% five years ago. In some municipalities, the proportion of foreign nationals approaches 70% — including 67.4% in Vík í Mýrdal, 46% in Skaftárhreppur and 39% in Bláskógabyggð. All three are popular tourist destinations in South Iceland. According to Statistics Iceland, at least 44% of people working in the tourism sector are foreign nationals.