White House jumps on 'nihilist penguin' meme, depicting Donald Trump in Greenland

This past week, US President Donald Trump backtracked on his threats about Greenland, telling the World Economic Forum (WEF)  that he would NOT use force to acquire the Arctic island, which is controlled by Denmark.

Now the White House has turned to memes, posting a cryptic image of Trump walking with a penguin captioned “Embrace The Penguin.” 

RELATED: Trump tones down rhetoric on Greenland at Davos, but can markets believe him?

It seems to be his administration's take on the "nihilist penguin" meme that is going viral across the world at the start of 2026.

The White House version features the pair with a US flag, marching towards mountains where the flag of Greenland is planted.

However, savvy commentators have pointed out that there are, in fact, no penguins in Greenland.

The image and "ethos' of the lone penguin is from a 2007 documentary by German filmmaker Werner Herzog, called Encounters at the End of the World.

The seabird is filmed breaking away from his group (waddle) which is moving towards the ocean, to journey in the direction of the mountains, facing certain death.

Herzog himself has said he finds it fascinating that this story from Antarctica has now captured the imagination of so many people globally.