President Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Reykjavik on Tuesday to meet with Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. The Wall Street Journal reported that Rubio “brought President Trump’s Arctic ambitions to Iceland…looking to build on a deal that emerged from Trump’s push to take control of Greenland as the U.S. expands its military reach across the region.”
Rubio and Gunnarsdóttir met outside the historic Hofdi House, shook hands and posed for photographs.
Eric Martin, a State Department reporter with Bloomberg, compared the moment to the 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev Reykjavík Summit, which was held at the same building almost exactly 40 years ago. (U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met there October 11-12.)
Martin reported on social media, with photos, that Rubio “recreated one of the most iconic photos of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The moment came exactly 40 years after the Gipper and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for the #Reykjavik Summit that signaled the beginning of the end of the Cold War.”
Martin also noted that Rubio “grew up idolizing Reagan,” and wrote in his 2012 memoir (‘An American Son’) that after the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, and Reagan’s win in 1980, “I’ve been a Republican ever since.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio this morning in #Iceland recreated one of the most iconic photos of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
The moment came exactly 40 years after the Gipper and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for the #Reykjavik Summit that signaled the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Can only imagine what the moment was like for Rubio, who grew up idolizing Reagan.
As we wrote in our October cover story for Businessweek, in his 2012 memoir, “An American Son,” Rubio recalled that his elders despised President Jimmy Carter for the humiliations of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. They threw their support behind Reagan’s 1980 election campaign, in hopes he’d confront the Soviet Union, Cuba’s patron, and restore American strength.
“I’ve been a Republican ever since,” Rubio wrote.
Read the full story here:
https://t.co/U2Z1mMX6aD
— Eric Martin (@EMPosts) October 6, 2026
Martin’s Rubio-Reagan comparison drew criticism, including from journalist Jason Cuevas, who replied, “Are you Rubio’s PR firm?”
Veteran of the conservative legal movement Gregg Nunziata, who served as general counsel and domestic policy adviser to Rubio when he was a U.S. Senator, replied: “This is very, very silly. I have great respect and admiration for my former boss, but this has nothing to do with the Reagan-Gorby moment.”
[NOTE: Rubio met with Icelandic foreign minister, a NATO ally, to discuss defense cooperation and economic ties; Reagan met Gorbachev, his geopolitical adversary, to try to break a deadlock in nuclear-arms negotiations.]
After the meeting, Rubio also commented on the historical site, writing on social media: “Toured the Hofdi House, where the 1986 Reykjavik Summit between President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev took place.”
He added that the house “symbolizes diplomacy’s role in ending the Cold War and defeating communism.”
Toured the Hofdi House, where the 1986 Reykjavik Summit between President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev took place.
The house symbolizes diplomacy’s role in ending the Cold War and defeating communism. https://t.co/pHh7jMNRdZ
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) October 6, 2026
