WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans may be willing to stick with President Donald Trump on almost anything, but his latest attempt to seize control of Greenland has offended many in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. That’s higher than the overall share that dislikes his handling of foreign policy, suggesting that Trump’s Greenland policy has created a vulnerability for the administration.
Even Republicans aren’t excited. About half disapprove of his attempt to turn the icy landmass into U.S. territory, which Trump insists is vital to national security in the Arctic, while about half approve.
The poll was conducted between February 5 and 8, following Trump’s decision to lift tariffs aimed at forcing European countries to support U.S. control of Greenland, but after weeks of pushing for U.S. intervention on the island.
About half of Republicans disapprove of Trump’s stance on Greenland
Trump supporters are usually staunch, so Greenland is an exception.
The scores represent Trump’s lowest approval rating among Republicans on a range of key issues in the poll, including the economy and immigration (about 8 in 10 support) and overall foreign policy. About 7 in 10 Republicans approve of his overall foreign policy approach.
Trump has argued that the United States needs Greenland to counter threats from Russia and China in the Arctic, even though the United States already has military forces there.
Other recent polls, including one conducted by the Pew Research Center in January, have found that Republicans are deeply divided over whether the United States should take over Greenland, with Americans generally opposed.
Ayman Amir, a 46-year-old Trump supporter from Houston, Texas, said he agreed that Greenland is strategically important to U.S. forces. But that doesn’t mean he thinks Trump should claim that.
“We cannot take it by force. We have no right to do so,” Amir said. “You can’t blame Russia for what it did in Ukraine and then do the same thing again. You can’t do that.”
Trump’s overall foreign policy approval rating remains stable
The president dropped his threat to seize the territory by force late last month after saying he had reached a framework for a Greenland access agreement with the help of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
The conflict is just one of the moves Trump has taken over the past year to strain relations with key allies. Western leaders are focusing on transatlantic tensions at the Munich Security Conference this week.
In Greenland, Trump has few supporters at home or abroad.
Despite Trump’s dramatic moves to gain control of Greenland, his overall approval ratings on foreign policy issues have remained steady. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to foreign policy, a metric that has remained unchanged in recent months.
Young Republicans particularly disapprove of Greenland’s approach
Young Republicans in particular are likely to disapprove of how Trump is handling the situation.
About 6 in 10 Republicans under 45 say they disapprove of his leadership in Greenland, compared with about 4 in 10 older Republicans.
Four in 10 support Trump’s actions in Greenland, a much lower share than among young Republicans on foreign policy, the economy or immigration issues.
Independent voter Aaron Gunnoe, 29, an engineer from Marion, Ohio, is perplexed by Trump’s aggressive attitude toward NATO allies.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. “It belongs to someone else. That should be the end of it.”
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,156 adults was conducted Feb. 5-8 with a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The overall margin of sampling error for adults is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. The overall Republican margin of sampling error is plus or minus 6.1 percentage points.
