A new USA Today poll finds that a majority of Americans do not support President-elect Donald Trump's idea of "buying" Greenland from Denmark for national security reasons.
Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, has been a target of Trump’s ambitions since his first term in the White House. He recently revived the idea, claiming that Greenland would bring huge strategic benefits to the United States.
However, a survey conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University from January 7-11 showed that the American public is not very interested in this plan.
According to the survey, only 11% of respondents think the Trump administration should do everything in its power to own Greenland. 29% think it is a good idea but not practical. 53% are completely against buying Greenland.
By party line: 86% of Democrats surveyed oppose the plan, while only 23% of Republicans agree with the idea, with 48% saying it has little chance of success.
In contrast to views in the US, another survey by the Patriot Polling company showed that more than 57% of Greenlanders surveyed supported the idea of annexing the US, while 37.4% opposed it.
With an area of 2.2 million square kilometers, Greenland is not only the world's largest island but also a huge storehouse of natural resources, including gold, silver, copper, uranium and potential oil under the sea.
About 80% of Greenland is covered by ice, but its strategic location in the Arctic offers important military and geopolitical benefits.
Greenland has a population of about 57,000, most of whom are indigenous Arctic Inuit. Danish rule over Greenland has been internationally recognized since the early 1800s, but the island has enjoyed self-rule since 2009.
President-elect Donald Trump has said that control of Greenland is a matter of "national security," and Republican lawmakers have drafted a bill called the "Make Greenland Great Again Act" that would pave the way for Trump to negotiate with Denmark to buy the island.
