Americans Also Cool to 'Greenland Annexation' Plan... Only 1 in 5 Support

Reuters-Ipsos Poll
47% Oppose, 17% Support... Strong Opposition
71% Oppose Use of Military Force

As President Donald Trump revealed his ambitions to annex Greenland, a recent survey shows that even among Americans, there is strong opposition to the idea.

Illustration of Trump and Greenland. The Asia Business Daily DB

According to Yonhap News Agency, Reuters reported on the 14th (local time) that it had commissioned a poll by Ipsos. When asked, "Do you support the United States' efforts to acquire Greenland?" 47% of respondents said they opposed it. Only 17% were in favor, while 36% answered "don't know" or did not respond.

However, there were differences based on party affiliation. Among Republican supporters, 40% said they supported the idea, outnumbering the 14% who opposed it. In contrast, only 2% of Democratic supporters were in favor, while 79% were opposed.

Regardless of party affiliation, there was overwhelming opposition to the use of military force to annex Greenland. When asked, "Do you think it is a good idea for the United States to use military force to occupy Greenland?" only 4% of all respondents said yes, while 71% opposed it. Among Republican supporters, only 8% supported the use of military force, with 60% opposed. Among Democratic supporters, just 1% were in favor, while 89% were opposed, indicating an overwhelming majority against the idea.

This survey was conducted nationwide in the United States on January 12-13, targeting 1,217 adults. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points for all adults and ±5 percentage points for party members and similar groups.

A similar result was found in a poll commissioned by the British weekly news magazine The Economist and conducted by YouGov from January 9 to 12 among 1,602 American adults. When asked about "the United States using military force to acquire Greenland," only 8% of respondents were in favor, while 68% were opposed. Among Republican supporters, 18% were in favor and 45% were opposed, showing a slightly higher approval rate compared to the Reuters-Ipsos poll.

Another survey asked, "Do you support the United States paying residents of Greenland between $10,000 and $100,000 (approximately 14.7 million to 147 million won) to have Greenland leave Denmark and be annexed by the United States?" Only 13% of all respondents supported this idea, while 64% were opposed.