China ridicules White House over ‘Nihilist penguin’ meme

(MENAFN) According to reports, Chinese state media has ridiculed the U.S. administration for using a popular meme to promote its campaign for control over Greenland.

On Saturday, the White House’s X account shared an AI-generated image featuring President Trump leading a lone penguin across an icy landscape toward Greenland, where a Greenlandic flag is planted. The penguin holds a U.S. flag in its other wing, and the post was captioned, “Embrace the penguin.” The meme, known as the “Nihilist Penguin,” shows a lone Adelie penguin leaving its colony and heading toward distant mountains.

Xinhua responded by pointing out that penguins do not live in Greenland, which is in the Northern Hemisphere. Only Galapagos penguins exist north of the equator. The outlet published its own AI-generated video of Trump dressed as Uncle Sam, dragging a resisting penguin on a leash while holding a baseball bat.

The original “Nihilist Penguin” image comes from Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World and has recently gone viral online, inspiring memes about loneliness, existential reflection, and independent thinking.

Earlier this week, Trump revealed that a “framework” for a Greenland deal negotiated with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is now available, reportedly granting the U.S. “all the military access we want,” including sovereign base areas and fast-tracked rights to mine rare earth minerals on the island.

MENAFN25012026000045017281ID1110646428