Half in US say Greenland takeover a bad idea: Survey

More than half of U.S. voters in a new survey don’t support the U.S. taking over Greenland, a prospect President-elect Trump has entertained publicly in recent weeks.

In the Suffolk University/USA Today survey, 53 percent of likely voters say they oppose the idea — including 86 percent of self-described liberals, 61 percent of moderates and 25 percent of conservatives.

Another 29 percent of likely voters say it’s a good idea but don’t think it could realistically happen — including a plurality, 46 percent, of conservatives, 26 percent of moderates and 8 percent of liberals.

Eleven percent respondents say the incoming Trump administration should do everything it can to make the prospect of taking over Greenland a reality — including 22 percent of conservatives, 5 percent of moderates and 2 percent of liberals.

The survey question asks respondents to select between the three statements after informing them that “Trump says ownership and control of Greenland, which is an autonomous Danish territory, is an ‘absolute necessity’ for the United States, although officials in Greenland and Denmark say it is not for sale.”

Trump has continued to muse publicly about the prospect of taking over Greenland and has made the case that acquiring it is critical for U.S. national security.

Last week, the president-elect also declined to rule out using military force in his efforts to acquire Greenland, saying when asked, “I’m not going to commit to that. It might be that you have to do something.”

The new survey was conducted on Jan. 7-11, 2025, and included 1,000 likely voters. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.