As President Donald Trump turns up the volume on his efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark, two new national polls put a spotlight on the fact that most Americans oppose taking over the massive and crucially strategic island that lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
Eighty-six percent of voters nationwide questioned in a Quinnipiac University poll said they would oppose military action to take over Greenland.
That includes 95% of Democrats, 94% of Independents, and even more than two-thirds (68%) of Republicans surveyed by Quinnipiac late last week through Monday.
Three-quarters of Americans questioned in a CNN poll conducted at the same time said they opposed a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Ninety-four percent of Democrats and eight in 10 Independents said they would oppose such a move, with Republicans split 50%-50%.
Meanwhile, by a 55%-37% margin, voters questioned in the Quinnipiac survey said they opposed any U.S. effort to try and buy Greenland.
But there’s a stark political divide on this question, with the vast majority of Democrats and nearly six in 10 Independents opposed to buying Greenland, and more than two-thirds of Republicans supporting such efforts.
‘The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of national security,’ the president argued in a social media post Wednesday.
And the president emphasized that ‘anything less’ than U.S. control of Greenland is ‘unacceptable.’
Trump’s push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland is causing tension with Denmark and other NATO allies who insist that the semiautonomous Danish territory should determine its own future.
Trump officials are openly considering all options, including military force, to take Greenland, spurring bipartisan opposition from some in Congress.
Troops from several European countries deployed to Greenland this week for a brief two-day mission to bolster the territory’s defenses.
France, Germany, Sweden and Norway are participating in the exercise, Fox News has learned. Leaders say the mission is meant to demonstrate they can deploy military assets ‘quickly.’
Fox News’ Gillian Turner and Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.