Did a J.D. Vance meme get a Norwegian tourist blocked from entering the US?

A Norwegian college student flew thousands of miles to visit the United States — but instead of sightseeing, he was interrogated, searched, and sent packing. The reason? According to him, it all started with a meme of Vice President J.D.

Vance.The story, first reported by Norwegian newspaper Nordlys and later picked up by the Daily Mail, has gone viral online, sparking outrage from critics of the Trump administration and debate over how far the U.S. government will go in policing visitors' digital lives.

What really happened at Newark airport?

According to Mikkelsen, things took a turn on June 11 when he landed at Newark Liberty International Airport. He claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials demanded access to his mobile phone and came across two images: one was a meme of U.S.

Vice President J.D. Vance — reportedly a viral image tied to Vance's controversial February demand that Ukrainian President Zelensky thank Donald Trump — and the other was a photo of a homemade wooden pipe.

Mikkelsen told Nordlys that he was threatened with a $5,000 fine or five years in prison if he didn’t hand over his phone password. He said he eventually complied, but was interrogated on topics ranging from drug smuggling and terrorism to far-right extremism, and even forced to give a blood sample before being denied entry and sent back to Norway.

Social media lit up with reactions from both netizens and anti-Trump organizations. One user wrote, “A tourist from Norway denied entry to the US and deported after finding JD Vance meme on his phone. Hail the champions of Free Speech.”Another remarked, “The best thing about the U.S. refusing entry to a Norwegian student because of this meme is now every news agency across Europe is now sharing this meme.”

Homeland security pushes back, citing drug use

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), strongly denied the meme theory.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the claims as “FALSE” and “BS.” CBP echoed the stance in a statement on X, saying, “Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons, it was for his admitted drug use.”Mikkelsen had told officials that the wooden pipe in the second image was something he made himself, but CBP reportedly saw it as evidence of potential drug use.Whether the meme actually played a role in his interrogation or not, the story has drawn attention to the Trump administration’s stricter immigration policies. Under Trump’s second term, officials have ramped up vetting procedures for tourists and visa applicants, including expanded screening of social media profiles — a move that blurs the line between national security and personal expression.