Just one in five Americans supports Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, poll finds

WASHINGTON – Just 17 per cent of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and substantial majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The two-day poll, which concluded on Jan 13, showed widespread concerns over Mr Trump’s threats to NATO ally Denmark over Greenland, which has been a Danish territory for centuries.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers at the White House on Jan 14, the day after Greenland’s Prime Minister said his nation would prefer to remain part of Denmark.

Mr Trump has said Greenland is vital to US security and that Washington must own it to prevent Russia or China occupying the strategically located territory – which is rich in mineral wealth – in the future. 

White House officials have discussed various plans to bring Greenland under US 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 US efforts to acquire Greenland while 35 per cent said they were unsure.

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 Mr Trump stepped up efforts to dominate affairs in the Western Hemisphere.

Earlier in January, 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 US 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 were not sure if it was a good or bad idea.

Denmark has warned that using military force would mark the end of NATO, the transatlantic defence 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 US efforts to acquire Greenland will damage the NATO alliance and US relationships with European allies.

Mr 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 US territory, has been low throughout Mr Trump’s second term.

Some 10 per cent of respondents agreed with a statement that the US “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 on Jan 20-21, 2025, shortly after Mr Trump returned to power.

Some Republican lawmakers have also expressed scepticism over Mr Trump’s Greenland ambitions, particularly when it comes to threats against Denmark, though others support legislation that would give Mr Trump the power to annex Greenland.

Besides Denmark, Mr Trump has also threatened action against Iran if the authorities there mistreat protesters in the country.

Mr Trump in 2025 ordered US 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 Mr 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 US adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. REUTERS