WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Just 17% 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 Tuesday, showed widespread concerns over Trump’s threats to NATO ally Denmark over Greenland, which has been a Danish territory for centuries.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers at the White House on Wednesday, the day after Greenland’s prime minister said his nation would prefer to remain part of Denmark.
Trump has said Greenland is vital to U.S. 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 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% of respondents to the Reuters/Ipsos poll disapproved of U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland, while 35% said they were unsure.
TRUMP’S 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% 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% 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% of respondents, including 91% of Democrats and 40% 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% 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% 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% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Iran, while 43% 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.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
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