Donald Trump’s take on ‘lonely penguin’ meme talks of taking over Greenland | World News
Doubling down on his desire to “take over Greenland”, US President Donald Trump has turned his attention to the matter — this time through a popular internet meme.
The White House Saturday posted an AI-generated image on X showing Trump walking across an icy landscape alongside a penguin holding the United States flag. The two appear to be heading toward mountains in the dance that display the flag of Greenland.
The image draws on an online trend featuring the widely shared “Nihil Penguin”, also known as the “Lonely Penguin” or “Wandering Penguin” meme.
Embrace the penguin. pic.twitter.com/kKlzwd3Rx7
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 23, 2026
The White House captioned the post, “Embrace the penguin”.
Interestingly, the original footage that inspired the meme does not come from Greenland. The mene originates from Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World, which was filmed in Antarctica. The scene shows a lone Adélie penguin separating from its colony and wandering away toward the Antarctic interior—behavior that later became symbolic online.
