Trump’s Greenland plot has the public seeing red

Survey Says is a weekly series rounding up the most important polling trends or data points you need to know about, plus a vibe check on a trend that’s driving politics or culture.

Initially it sounded like a joke: Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland. But now, like so many of his bizarre schemes, it’s become official U.S. policy. He is now demanding that Denmark, which oversees the semi-autonomous arctic territory, begin “immediate negotiations” on the matter. He’s even threatening steeper tariffs on countries that stand in the way, though he now seems to have backed off that angle.

And yet the poll numbers on conquering Greenland almost couldn’t be more in the red.

Just 30% of the American public on average supports the U.S. purchasing Greenland, according to a Daily Kos analysis of five polls on the topic that have been fielded since the start of the year. Meanwhile, an average of 53% opposes the plan. 

Across the polls, Democrats are overwhelmingly against buying Greenland, joined by a plurality or majority of independents. Even roughly 1 in 5 Republicans aren’t on board, per the latest YouGov/Economist poll.

More concerning, though, is that Trump initially hinted at using military force to take Greenland. When NBC News asked him about the potentiality on Monday, he replied, “No comment.” 

But that idea is reviled by the public. On average, 77% oppose taking Greenland by force, while a paltry 9% support the use of force, according to Daily Kos’ analysis of six polls that covered the matter. Altogether, those stark numbers reflect a level of bipartisan unity rarely seen in our highly polarized era. The public seems to understand the stakes, though: 69% of Americans told YouGov/CBS News that using military force to take Greenland would create global instability.

Such dour polling may be why, on Wednesday, Trump walked back the idea of using military force—while maintaining his threatening tone. 

“I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the U.S. is asking for is a place called Greenland. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

But terrible polling alone is unlikely to nix Trump’s obsession with conquering Greenland. He’s been floating the idea of buying the territory as far back as 2017, and despite polling last year showing the public’s opposition, he’s only doubled down since then.

But why? What’s behind his fixation? 

It sure isn’t that Greenlanders want their home to join the United States. A poll last year found that only 6% want Greenland to ditch Denmark for the U.S.

The main reason, if you believe him, is “national security.” Greenland is part of a naval choke point known as the “Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom Gap,” or GIUK Gap, which links the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. But the catch is, the U.S. already has a military base in Greenland: the Pituffik Space Base, where roughly 150 Air Force and Space Force personnel are stationed. The base primarily supports the nation’s missile-defense systems.

However, Greenland also has immense mineral resources. Its reserves, which include many rare earth minerals, are necessary to many technologies Trump regularly talks about, such as wind turbines (“Big ugly suckers”) and electric vehicles (“Everything’s computer!”). Given Trump’s background, the “business opportunity” in Greenland might play heavily in his mind, as it has regarding Venezuela.

Perhaps more than anything, though, it has to do with Trump’s desire to leave his mark (or stain, in his case) on the United States and world at large. After all, growing or maintaining the U.S. is one tried-and-true way of having your face etched in stone—literally. The four faces on Mount Rushmore all represent former presidents who did just that: George Washington (“the father of the new country”), Thomas Jefferson (carried out the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the U.S.), Theodore Roosevelt (negotiated construction of the Panama Canal), and Abraham Lincoln (preserved the union during the Civil War).

This is what Trump wants. How do we know that? Like with basically all of Trump’s thoughts, the evidence is on his social media:

Any updates?

• Trump believes his accomplishments in office are so great that “[w]hen you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election,” as he put it earlier this month. Unsurprisingly, only 14% of Americans agree with that statement, according to YouGov. Sixty-four percent of Americans—including 91% of Democrats, 64% of independents, and 38% of Republicans—disapprove. Unfortunately, 31% of Republicans agree with Trump.

Vibe check

One year ago, Trump entered the White House for a second time, and shortly after that, the American public remembered how much it didn’t like him being there. 

It took only 51 days from Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, for Trump’s net job approval to sink underwater. And not once since March 12 of last year has resurfaced, according to election analyst Nate Silver’s polling average.

As of Friday, 55.3% of the public disapproves of the job he’s doing as president, while 41.3% approves of it—a net approval of -14.1 percentage points, after rounding.