Only 17 per cent of Americans back President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, with a significant majority of both Democrats and Republicans opposing the use of military force to annex the island, a Reuters/Ipsos poll has found.
The two-day survey, which concluded on Tuesday, highlighted broad concerns regarding Mr Trump’s recent threats towards Denmark, a key Nato ally, over the Danish territory of Greenland.
The findings emerge as US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to meet their Danish and Greenlandic counterparts at the White House on Wednesday. This meeting follows Greenland’s prime minister stating his nation’s preference to remain part of Denmark just yesterday.
President Trump has previously asserted that Greenland is crucial for US security, arguing that Washington must own the strategically located, mineral-rich territory to prevent future occupation by Russia or China.
White House officials have discussed various plans to bring Greenland under U.S. control, including using military force or issuing lump-sum payments to Greenlanders as part of a bid to convince them to secede from Denmark.
Some 47 per cent of respondents to the Reuters/Ipsos poll disapproved of U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland, while 35 per cent said they were unsure.
Trumps hemispheric aspirations
About one in five respondents in the poll said they had not heard of the plans to acquire Greenland. The effort has come to the fore as Trump has stepped up efforts to dominate affairs in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier this month, he vowed to “run” Venezuela after ordering a military raid that captured the country’s president.
Only 4 per cent of Americans – including just one in 10 Republicans and almost no Democrats – said it would be a “good idea” for the U.S. to use military force to take possession of Greenland from Denmark.
Some 71 per cent thought it would be a bad idea, including nine in 10 Democrats and six in 10 Republicans. About one in three Republicans said they weren’t sure if it was a good or bad idea.
Denmark has warned that using military force would mark the end of NATO, the transatlantic defense treaty that has been a key plank in the world order since 1949.
Some 66 per cent of respondents, including 91 per cent of Democrats and 40 per cent of Republicans, said they were worried U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland will damage the NATO alliance and U.S. relationships with European allies.
Trump campaigned on promises to avoid war, helping shore up support for him among Americans tired of decades of foreign military conflicts such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Appetite for foreign conflict, including attempts to expand U.S. territory, has been low throughout Trump’s second term.
Little support for military intervention
Some 10 per cent of respondents agreed with a statement that the U.S. “should use military force to obtain new territory, like Greenland and the Panama Canal,” largely unchanged from 9 per cent in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted January 20-21 of last year, shortly after Trump returned to power.
Some Republican lawmakers have also expressed skepticism over Trump’s Greenland ambitions, particularly when it comes to threats against Denmark, though others support legislation that would give Trump the power to annex Greenland.
Besides Denmark, Trump has also threatened action against Iran if authorities there mistreat protesters in the country. Trump last year ordered U.S. strikes in support of Israel in its short-lived war against Iran. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 33 per cent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Iran, while 43 per cent disapproved.
The new Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online and nationwide, gathered responses from 1,217 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
