By a more than two-to-one margin, Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over Greenland from Danish control.

About this research

This Pew Research Center analysis examines Americans’ views of President Donald Trump’s proposed U.S. takeover of Greenland.

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans’ views of politics and major policy issues for decades.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.  

How did we do this?

We surveyed 8,512 U.S. adults from Jan. 20 to 26, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population.

Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

Overall, 58% of adults oppose a U.S. takeover of the island, 21% favor it and 20% say they are not sure, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Opposition to a Greenland takeover has increased modestly since March 2025, when 54% of Americans were against the idea.

The new survey also finds a wide partisan gap in these views:

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents overwhelmingly oppose the U.S. taking over Greenland (82% oppose, 4% favor).

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more divided: 41% favor it, while 33% oppose it.

Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats (26% vs. 12%) to say they are not sure about a takeover of Greenland.

The survey was conducted Jan. 20-26 among 8,512 U.S. adults. On Jan. 21, Trump announced that he had “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” though he did not specify whether the United States would administer the island. Trump previously had said it was essential for the U.S. to control Greenland.

How the views of Republicans and Democrats have changed since last year

Among Republicans

The 41% of Republicans who currently favor taking over Greenland is unchanged since March. But GOP opposition to a takeover has ticked up over this period, from 28% to 33%. The share of Republicans who say they are not sure has dropped by 5 percentage points.

While overall GOP support is unchanged, the share of Republicans who strongly favor a Greenland takeover is up 5 points since March, from 15% to 20%.

Among Democrats

As they did last spring, Democrats overwhelmingly oppose a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Currently, 82% of Democrats oppose this, virtually unchanged from last year.

Nearly three-in-four Democrats (73%) strongly oppose taking over Greenland. Only 4% of Democrats favor a takeover.

Related: Confidence in Trump Dips, and Fewer Now Say They Support His Policies and Plans

Note: Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

Steven Shepard is an associate director of politics at Pew Research Center.