Many Republicans’ Greenland break from Trump base
A new AP-NORC poll suggests that President Donald Trump’s Greenland push has become a rare vulnerability for his political coalition, with disapproval concentrated even among Republicans. The survey found broad discontent among U.S. adults about how Trump is handling Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, with the Greenland question drawing worse ratings than Trump’s foreign-policy performance overall.
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Greenland issue. The poll also found about 24% of adults approve of his Greenland approach. The findings were reported as notably higher than the share of adults who dislike how Trump is handling foreign policy generally, indicating that voters may see Greenland as a specific weak spot rather than a general shift in their view of his diplomacy.
Among Republicans, the poll found a split that differs from the general pattern of near-unwavering support for Trump on most issues. About half of Republicans disapprove of his attempt to turn Greenland into American territory, while about half approve, according to the survey. The poll presented Greenland as an exception to a broader picture in which Trump’s foreign-policy approval remained steady.
The poll was conducted Feb. 5-8, using a sample of 1,156 adults drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel. The survey period came after Trump had made the decision to scrap tariffs designed to pressure European countries into supporting U.S. control of Greenland, but after his weekslong push for American intervention over the island, the AP report said.
Trump has argued that the United States needs Greenland to counter threats from Russia and China in the Arctic region, despite the United States already having a military presence there, the AP-NORC report said. In the poll findings, at least some Trump supporters said they agreed with the strategic premise but rejected the proposed approach. Ayman Amir, a 46-year-old Trump supporter from Houston, said he agreed Greenland held strategic importance for U.S. military needs but that “We can’t take it by force. We don’t have a right to do that,” adding, “You can’t blame Russia for what they do in Ukraine and then do the same thing. You can’t do this.”
The poll also found that Trump’s overall foreign policy approval remained steady. It reported that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to foreign policy, and that the figure was unchanged in recent months. It also reported that about 7 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s overall foreign policy approach, even as their views were much more divided on Greenland.
Republicans under age 45 were especially likely to disapprove of Trump’s Greenland handling, the AP-NORC poll found. About 6 in 10 Republicans under 45 disapproved, compared with about 4 in 10 older Republicans. The survey also reported that the 4 in 10 Republicans who approved of Trump’s Greenland actions was lower than young Republicans’ approval on issues such as foreign policy broadly, the economy, and immigration.
The Greenland polling comes as Western leaders prepare to discuss trans-Atlantic tensions at the Munich Security Conference. The AP report said Trump dropped his threats to seize the territory by force late last month, after saying a framework for a deal over access to Greenland was reached with help from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Beyond the Republican split, the poll also included views from independents who said the premise of Greenland’s ownership was decisive to them. Aaron Gunnoe, a 29-year-old independent voter and engineer from Marion, Ohio, said, “It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” and argued that “It’s owned by somebody else. That should be the end of it.”
The AP report said the margin of sampling error for adults overall was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points, and plus or minus 6.1 percentage points for Republicans overall.