A White House–shared image of Donald Trump holding a penguin while heading to “buy” Greenland went viral due to its deeper symbolism. The penguin references Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World, in which a penguin abandons its colony and walks inland toward the mountains—an irrational path almost certain to lead to death.
Over time, this scene became a symbol of blind determination and misguided confidence. In the viral image, the penguin represents persistence in a course that appears bold but ignores consequences.
The visual is therefore not simple humor, but dark satire. It uses the penguin as a metaphor for geopolitical decisions that may seem decisive on the surface yet carry serious, potentially self-destructive risks—turning the image into a symbolic warning rather than just a meme.